Fabrication of a silica ceramic membrane using the aerosol flame deposition method for pretreatment focusing on particle control during desalination

A silica membrane was fabricated using the aerosol flame deposition (AFD) method under different sintering temperatures. It was characterized, in terms of roughness, pure water permeability, contact angle, zeta potential, and effective pore size distribution. Membrane performance was evaluated with respect to removal of Suwannee River humic acids and polystyrene particles with different sizes. Both membrane thickness and pure water permeability decreased with increasing sintering temperature. The effective pore sizes of synthesized membranes ranged from 6.5 to 8.0 µm. Polystyrene particles with sizes higher than 7 μm were almost completely removed by the synthesized ceramic membranes; however, no removal for humic acids was measured with the ceramic membranes tested.