Fabrication of a dual-layer ceramic mesoporous membrane with high flux via a co-sintering process

The application of ceramic mesoporous membranes is mainly limited by the trade-off between separation performance and fabrication cost. Here, a co-sintering technique is employed to fabricate ZrO2 dual-layer ceramic mesoporous membranes with high separation precision and water permeance. Based on a coarse ceramic substrate, dual layers that could effectively decrease the fabrication cost and time were co-sintered. By doping zirconia nanoparticles in the sublayer, the sintering temperature could be decreased, and a high bonding strength was achieved between the dual layers. It is demonstrated that the permeance can be finely tuned by controlling the thickness of the sublayer. The resulting membrane exhibited a high water permeance of 280 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and a molecular weight cut-off of 40–50 kDa. The zirconia mesoporous membrane was employed for sol separation, affording a 100% rejection rate toward SiO2 nanoparticles. The cost-effective ZrO2 mesoporous membrane exhibits significant application potential for the separation of industrial SiO2 sols.