UYANG Ruifeng, ZHANG Xiaozhen, JIANG Yuhua, ZHANG Jie
（School of Materials Science and Engineering &Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Universities for Inorganic Membrane,
Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jingdezhen 333403, Jiangxi, China)
Abstract: Polyethersulfone (PES) with different molecular weights were used as polymer binder to fabricate the asymmetric structure yttriastabilized zirconia (YSZ) hollow fiber membranes by a combined phase inversion and sintering technique. The effect of PES molecular weight on the viscosity of suspensions and the resultant membrane microstructure and porosity, pore size, pure water and nitrogen fluxs, bending strength were investigated. Results show that when PES with low molecular weight was applied, the prepared membrane was composed of inner large finger-like pore structure and outer small finger-like structure layers. With the increase of PES molecular weight, the outer fingerlike pores enlarged, while the size of inner finger-like pores decreased, and sponge-like structure layer occurred in the middle of the membrane wall. The porosity of the prepared membrane decreased with the increase of suspension viscosity. The YSZ hollow fiber ceramic membrane derived from PES E3010 showed the largest pore size of outer skin layer, and demonstrates the highest permeate flux and bending strength. When sintered at 1400 ℃ for 3 h, the pure water flux and bending strength of 9.35 m3/ (m2·h·MPa) and 113.9 MPa can be obtained, respectively.
Key words: hollow fiber ceramic membrane; polyethersulfone; molecular weight; microstructure; property