Membrane separation processes find large applications. Ceramic membranes are applied in several processes, mainly in application above 250 ºC, as well as in separation of solutions with pH extremely acid and even in systems with organic solvents. On the other hand, ceramic membranes show high cost of fabrication, mainly in relation to the raw synthetic materials (zirconia, alumina, titania and silica). Therefore, the main concern in the development of these membranes is to optimize the cost using natural non-expensive raw materials and more efficient ceramic processing, such as extrusion. The fabrication of ceramic membranes by extrusion gives the possibility to use cross flow system, which is very useful in microfiltration and ultrafiltration separation processes. The aim of this work is to prepare tubular cordierite membranes from raw materials such as clays and talc and by extrusion processing. Four sintering temperatures (1150, 1200, 1250 and 1280 ºC) were used to show the effect on the morphological characteristics of the membranes. The membranes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The results showed the formation of cordierite phase at all sintering temperatures. The membranes presented pore size of 1.4, 2.2, 3.3 and 4.1 µm and porosity content of 28.7, 29.1, 27.7 and 24.3% for sintering temperaturesf 1150, 1200, 1250 and 1280 ºC, respectively. These values show that these membranes are suitable to be applied in microfiltration separation processes. The results of water flux, at steady state, show that the membrane sintered at 1280 ºC presented the highest value, 587.3 kg/m².h, followed by 377.7 kg/m².h (1250 ºC), 143.4 kg/m².h (1200 ºC) and 67.8 kg/m².h (1150 ºC).
cordierite; ceramic membrane; sintering
