Fabrication and characterization of porous mullite ceramics derived from fluoride-assisted Metakaolin-Al(OH)3 annealing for filtration applications
Amanmyrat Abdullayev, Celal Avcıoğlu, Tobias Fey, André Hilger, Markus Osenberg, Ingo Manke, Laura M. Henning, Aleksander Gurlo, Maged F. Bekheet
Abstract
In this work, polycrystalline mullite whiskers are synthesized by fluoride-assisted method from metakaolin and several aluminum-containing compounds such as γ-Al(OH)3, AlF3·3H2O, and α-Al2O3 (corundum). The mullite formation and crystallization are assessed both in ex situ and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction experiments under synthesis conditions. Polycrystalline mullite starts to form from metakaolin, Al(OH)3, and AlF3·3H2O reactants at 680 °C, whereas mullite does not form even at 1000 °C when corundum is used. Porous mullite ceracmics are fabricated at sintering temperatures between 1000 and 1700 °C and tested for water permeance. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and synchrotron X-ray tomography (μCT) reveal that ceramics are comprised of pore channels with an interlocked network of mullite whiskers. With competitive porosity (up to 63 %), compressive strength (up to 20 MPa), and pure water flux (up to 579 L/m2·h at 1 bar), fabricated mullite ceramics are promising candidates for water filtration and purification.