Development of new ceramic membranes has recently grown due to its superior thermal and mechanical stability. An interesting approach to manufacture asymmetric membranes is the production of aligned pore structure by the freeze-casting method. The lack of studies involving membrane production with tubular freeze-cast substrates warrants more research. In this study, a novel tubular freeze-cast alumina substrate was used for deposition of a silica top layer. The substrate showed radially aligned pores, indicating precise structure control. The obtained pore structure shows high potential for membrane manufacture. The silica layer was produced by the sol-gel method and dip-coated on the substrates with two different withdrawal speeds. The microporous silica showed pores smaller than 2 nm. The highest withdrawal speed resulted in broader substrate coverage. However, a uniform silica layer was only obtained after a second deposition. These results confirm the viability to use tubular freeze-cast substrates for production of nanofiltration membranes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.