Synthesis of a novel nano-ceramic membrane for hydrogen separation and purification

Low cost, easy maintenance, small power consumption, simple increasing of task scale with respect to compact size of equipment, simple exploitation, low-cost product and performing extraction, and purification in single step are some benefits of the membrane process in comparison with conventional separation processes. Nowadays, nano-ceramic membranes are used in many separating processes because of their fascinating mechanical and chemical resistance and sufficient gas separation performance. Study on the structure, permeability, and selectivity of these membranes are newly appeared topics. In this research, a nano-ceramic membrane was synthesized using tetraethyl orta-cycle as the silica source with immersion coating on porous-based alpha alumina. Studying the synthesized membrane based on images obtained from the scanning electron microscope (SEM), it was found that a silicate layer with 5.88 mu m thickness is developed on the base after four times of deposition. The morphology on the surface of the membrane was uniform without defect. The gas permeability test has shown that by increasing pressure, the flow rate and membrane permeability increase for both gases due to the greater propulsion by the difference of pressure between two sides of the membrane which makes more gas molecules pass through the membrane.