Preparation and Characterization of Low-Cost Ceramic Membrane Coated with Chitosan: Application to the Ultrafine Filtration of Cr(VI)

Munkhpurev Bat-Amgalan; Naoto Miyamoto; Naoki Kano; Ganchimeg Yunden; Hee-Joon Kim

doi:10.3390/membranes12090835

Preparation and Characterization of Low-Cost Ceramic Membrane Coated with Chitosan: Application to the Ultrafine Filtration of Cr(VI)

Membranes (Basel). 2022 Aug 26;12(9):835. doi: 10.3390/membranes12090835.

Authors

Munkhpurev Bat-Amgalan^{1

2}, Naoto Miyamoto³, Naoki Kano³, Ganchimeg Yunden², Hee-Joon Kim^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, 8050 Ikarashi 2-Nocho, Nishi-ku, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Applied Sciences, Mongolian University of Sciences and Technology, Ulaanbaatar 14191, Mongolia.
³ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Niigata University, 8050 Ikarashi 2-Nocho, Nishi-ku, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
⁴ Department of Environmental Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1, Nakano-machi, Hachioji 192-0015, Japan.

Abstract

In this work, low-cost ceramic membranes (CMs) were prepared from ultrafine starting powders such as kaolin, clay, and starch by a dry compaction method. The ceramic membranes were sintered at different temperatures and times and were characterized by XRD, XRF, TG-DTA, SEM-EDS, N₂-BET, water absorption, compressive strength, and pure water flux. The optimal membrane, sintered at 1000 °C for 3 h, possessed water absorption of 27.27%, a compressive strength of 31.05 MPa, and pure water flux of 20.74 L/h m². Furthermore, chitosan crosslinked with glutaraldehyde was coated on the surface of the ceramic membrane by the dip coating method, and the pore size of the chitosan-coated ceramic membrane (CCCM) was 16.24 nm. Eventually, the separation performance of this membrane was assessed for the removal of chromium(VI) from aqueous solution. The ultrafine filtration of Cr(VI) was studied in the pH range of 2-7. The maximum removal of Cr(VI) was observed to be 71.25% with a pH of 3. The prepared CCCM showed good membrane properties such as mechanical stability and ultrafine structure, which have important applications for the treatment of wastewater including such heavy metals.

Keywords: ceramic membrane (CM); chitosan-coated ceramic membrane (CCCM); chromium(VI) removal; kaolin; ultrafine (UF) filtration.

Grants and funding

The present work was partially supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Research Program (C), No. 21K12290).