Synthesis of SUZ-4 Zeolite Membrane Derived from Rice Husk Ash: Study of Physical Properties

Abstract

The zeolite SUZ-4 membrane was synthesized for further use in De-NOx reaction. Firstly, the zeolite SUZ-4crystals were synthesized via Sol Gel hydrothermal process using rice husk ash (RHA) as raw material altogetherwith other chemicals. The mullite tube was used as a support for SUZ-4 membrane. Before spin-coating in SUZ-4colloidal solution, the mullite was modified its surface charge from negative to positive at pH 4 by pretreatmentwith polyamine solution. After varying coating time and concentration of polyamine solution, it was found that theoptimum coating time was 15 minutes with 4 wt.% polyamine solution. The obtained SUZ-4 membrane was 20 μmthickness having 0.058 wt.% of the support. In addition, the thickness of the membrane was increased about 20μm for each re-spin-coating. The synthesized SUZ-4 membranes have the specific surface areas in the range of17.6-23.1 m2/g and its pore size distribution reveals tri-modal distribution having the average size in the range of20-80 Å.