Elaboration and characterization of a new flat ceramic MF membrane made from natural Moroccan bentonite. Application to treatment of industrial wastewater

This work reports the development and characterization of a new ceramic MF membrane. The flat membrane was prepared from natural Bentonite extracted from the vicinity of Nador, Morocco. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques were used for the characterization of the raw material. Flat disks of 37.1 mm in diameter and 1.6 mm in thickness were obtained by uniaxial pressing method, followed by sintering at 950 °C. The resulting membrane was characterized by Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM), water porosity and mechanical strength. The porosity of this membrane is 32.12% with a mean pore size of 1.70 μm. The water permeability of elaborated membrane is 520 L/(h m2 bar) after 2 h of filtration. The membrane presents good mechanical properties with flexural strength of 22 MPa. The microfiltration membrane was tested in industrial effluents treatment with a nice retention (94-99%) of suspended particles present in wastewater.