An investigation on the effect of alumina on hydrothermal stability of nanostructured silica membrane prepared by sol-gel method

Shojaie-Bahaabad, Maryam; Kaveh, Reza

doi:10.30501/acp.2018.92950

An investigation on the effect of alumina on hydrothermal stability of nanostructured silica membrane prepared by sol-gel method

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

Maryam Shojaie-Bahaabad

Reza Kaveh

Department of Chemical and Material Engineering, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

10.30501/acp.2018.92950

Abstract

In the present study, the effect of alumina on the pore structure and hydrothermal stability of nanostructured silica was investigated. SiO₂ and SiO₂-15wt%Al₂O₃ membranes were prepared by dip coating on mesoporous γ-Al₂O₃ coated macroporous α-alumina support. The particle sizes of sol were increased by adding of alumina to silica sol. Through the addition of the alumina up to 15 wt% and heat treatment at 500 °C, the silica structure was remained amorphous and the thickness of the top layer was in the range of 200-500 nm because of an increase in the sol viscosity. FT-IR analysis showed the formation of Si-O-Al bonds after heat treatment in the SiO₂-15wt%Al₂O₃ membrane. After placing the membranes under hydrothermal test, the pore volume and size were slowly decreased by means of alumina addition in that order. Furthermore, the permeability of gas molecules (H₂, He, CO₂,…) from the silica membrane was abruptly decreased compared to the SiO₂-15wt%Al₂O₃ membrane. Therefore, the membrane containing the added alumina had a more suitable hydrothermal stability due to the formation of more stable Si-O-Al bonds.

Keywords

Nanostructure silica

Silica-alumina membrane

Hydrothermal stability

Nanoporous membrane

Subjects

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