Cobalt oxide silica membranes for desalination

Abstract

This work shows for the first time the potential of cobalt oxide silica (CoO(x)Si) membranes for desalination of brackish (1 wt.% NaCl), seawater (3.5 wt.% NaCl) and brine (7.5-15 wt.% NaCl) concentrations at feed temperatures between 25 and 75 °C. CoO(x)Si xerogels were synthesised via a sol-gel method including TEOS, cobalt nitrate hydrate and peroxide. Initial hydrothermal exposure (<2 days) of xerogels prepared with various pH (3-6) resulted in densification of the xerogel via condensation reactions within the silica matrix, with the xerogel synthesised at pH 5 the most resistant. Subsequent exposure was not found to significantly alter the pore structure of the xerogels, suggesting they were hydrostable and that the pore sizes remained at molecular sieving dimensions. Membranes were then synthesised using identical sol-gel conditions to the xerogel samples and testing showed that elevated feed temperatures resulted in increased water fluxes, whilst increasing the saline feed concentration resulted in decreased water fluxes. The maximum flux observed was 1.8 kg m(-2) h(-1) at 75 °C for a 1 wt.% NaCl feed concentration. The salt rejection was consistently in excess of 99%, independent of either the testing temperature or salt feed concentration.