S Foorginezhad - Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Nano-chemical Engineering Department, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
M.M Zerafat - Faculty of Advanced Technologies, Nano-chemical Engineering Department, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Low-cost microfiltration membranes were prepared using natural clay collected from Fars province (Iran). The green mix was prepared through mixing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a binder and eggshell as the porosity agent. Flat membranes were fabricated using isostatic pressing followed by thermal treatment. Particle size distribution (PSD) of clay and eggshell powder were investigated using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and it was found that the powders were in micrometric scale. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed membranes porous and crack-free surface morphology. Using Archimedes method, it was found that the membrane porosity was enhanced from ~ 27% to ~ 35% with 2 wt.% eggshell additions. Besides, water flux and removal rates were evaluated using dead-end filtration experiment at 0.1 bar pressure controlled by height of water above the membrane. According to chemical oxygen demand (COD) analysis, organic matter and oxidizable pollutant content were removed by ~50%. Moreover, complete color and turbidity removal of coal washing wastewater was observed using the as-prepared cost-effective ceramic membranes

Microfiltration membrane; Clay; Isostatic pressing; Wastewater; Ceramic membranes