In this study, the effects of kaolin addition on the properties of reticulated porous diatomite-kaolin composites are investigated. A reticulated porous diatomite-kaolin composite is prepared using the replica template method. The microstructure and pore characteristics of the reticulated porous diatomite-kaolin composites are analyzed by controlling the PPI value (45, 60, and 80 PPI) of the polyurethane foam (which are used as the polymer template), the ball-milling time (8 and 24 h), and the amount of kaolin (0–50 wt. %). The average pore size decreases as the amount of kaolin increases in the reticulated porous diatomite-kaolin composite. As the amount of kaolin increases, it can be determined that the amount of inter-connected pore channels is reduced because the plate-shaped kaolin particles connect the gaps between irregular diatomite particles. Consequently, a higher kaolin percentage affects the overall mechanical properties by improving the pore channel connectivity. The effect of kaolin addition on the basic properties of the reticulated porous diatomite-kaolin composite is further discussed with characterization data such as pore size distribution, scanning electron microscopy images, and compressive strength.

Ceramic membranes can be applied under extreme operating conditions such as low pH, high pressure and high temperature. In particular SiC has excellent mechanical properties and also has excellent properties related to membrane performance. However, high processing temperature increases cost of SiC products and thus limit’s its use. In this study oxidation bonding technique was used to fabricate cost-effective SiC microfiltration membrane at low temperature. The oxidation behavior at different thermal treatments was related with pore morphology and ultimately the membrane permeability. We have found that the membrane made by coating of oxidation bonded SiC layer over clay-bonded SiC support, sintered at 1000-1100°C could make a defect-free microfiltration membrane with pure water permeability above 700 LMH per bar. The membrane has narrow pore size distribution with average pore size about 0.1 μm.

Ceramic membrane technology has been remarkably progressed for water treatment. The advantages were founded on the intrinsic properties of ceramics. Membrane fouling is regarded as a serious obstacles which deteriorate the stable purification process. The surface modification of ceramic membranes would be necessary to relieve the severe membrane fouling and to improve filtration efficiency. We aimed to develop a unique ceramic membrane with resistance to fouling. The ceramic membranes are subjected to chemical modification, and the surface charge effects were extensively investigated.

In this study, diatomite based materials were investigated as a support filter for silica particle coating. Thesilica sol for coating was synthesized by a stöber process. The diatomite support was dry-pressed at 10 MPa and sin-tered at 1200˚C for 1 hour. The coating sol was prepared as a mixture of EtOH and silica sol. The diatomite supportwas coated by a dip-coating process. Silica coated diatomite filter was sintered at 1000~1200˚C for 1 hour. The largestpore size was decreased with increasing concentration ratio of coating sol. The gas and water permeability of silicacoated diatomite decreased with increasing of concentration ratio of the coating sol.

The purpose of our study was to develop the fabrication method of porous diatomite ceramics with a porosity gradient by centrifugal molding. The processing variables of centrifugal molding were derived from Stoke's law of sedimentation, which were the radius of the particles, the acceleration due to centrifugal molding and the dynamic viscosity of the slurry. And these could be controlled by ball-milling conditions, centrifugal conditions, and the addition of methyl cellulose, respectively. The effects of processing conditions on the gradient pore structure of diatomite were investigated by particle size analysis, scanning electron microscope, and mercury porosimeter.

In this study, a novel-processing route for fabricating microcellular zirconia ceramics has been developed. The proposed strategy for making the microcellula zirconia ceramics involved hollow microspheres as pore former. Compared to conventional dense microspheres pore former, well-defined pore structured zirconia ceramics were successfully fabricated. Effects of hollow microsphere content and sintering temperature on microstructure, porosity, pore distribution, and strength were investigated in the processing of microcellular zirconia ceramics.

The synthesis behavior of nanoporous silica aerogel in the macroporous ceramic structure was observed using TEOS as a source material and glycerol as a dry control chemical additive (DCCA). Silica aerogel in the macroporous ceramic structure was synthesized via sono-gel process using hexamethyldiazane (HMDS) as a modification agent and n-hexane as a main solvent. The wet gel with a modified surface was dried at under ambient pressure. The addition of glycerol appears to give the wet gel a more homogeneous microstructure. However, glycerol also retarded the rate of surface modification and solvent exchange. Silica aerogel completely filled the macroporous ceramic structure without defect in the condition of surface modification (20% HMDS/nhexane at 36hr).