Effects of Pore Former on Properties of Alumina Porous Ceramic for Application in Micro-Filtration Membrane Supports

Abstract

Due to its excellent chemical stability, high temperature resistance and mechanical properties, alumina porous ceramic was the first choice of the production of microfiltration membrane support body material. In this paper, alumina porous ceramic was prepared by alumina as main materials and adding proper amount of adhesives and sintering additives. Effects of the kinds and addition of pore formers, such as starch, graphite and carbon-black, on properties of alumina porous ceramic was studied. The porosity of the fired samples was evaluated by Archimedes law. The fired samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compressive strength and mercury porosimeter measurements. Alumina porous ceramic composition was prepared by mixing 100% alumina with different particle size and 8 % graphite pore former. The sample was pressured at 10 MPa and fired at 1650 °C for 2 h, and endowed with 6-8 μm of the average pore diameter, 37.65 % of the porosity and 40.33 MPa of the compressive strength, respectively. The influence law of the kinds and addition of graphite pore former on the performance of alumina porous ceramic was studied for application in micro-filtration mmembrane supports.