| In this paper, stainless steel support membrane precursor was prepared by non solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method and was sintered to become stainless steel support membrane which was characterized by various methods including density, porosity, maximum diameter, mechanical properties, flux, SEM and so on. The effect of preparing process on membrane performance after sintering was also explored.Firstly, stainless steel powder casting solution with different polymer including polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polysulphone (PSF), polyethersulfone (PES) were prepared. The rheological property and stability of different casting solution were also studied and the result showed that the casting solution viscosity went down as the shear rate went up and grew up as the content of polymer increased. At last, PAN was chosen as the proper polymer of casting solution.Secondly, the shape of PAN system hollow fiber support membrane precursor prepared by using NIPS method was better when viscosity of casting solution was about 10000 mPas. The density and mechanical properties of support precursor went up as the content of PAN went up while the porosity went down. A little bit additive PVP could improve the density, porosity and mechanical properties of membrane precursor.Thirdly, stainless steel hollow fiber support membrane was prepared after the precursor was sintered. As the content of PAN increased, the microscopic structure of support membrane became compact resulting in the increase of density and mechanical strength and decrease of porosity, maximum diameter and pure water flux. As the temperature (1100 to 1350 C) grew up, the density and mechanical strength of the support increased while the porosity, maximum diameter and pure water flux decreased. As the content of H2 in the atmosphere became more, the density and mechanical strength of support membrane became less while the porosity, maximum diameter and pure water flux became more.At last, it is better to add 0.5%PVP to improve the compactness of support membrane after sintering which can also increase the density and mechanical performance. The mechanical strength of support membrane was obviously increased after adding 5% aluminum powder which was almost three times higher than that without aluminum powder, while the pure water flux was obviously lessened. The pore diameter of support membrane could be lessened a little after adding aluminum powder. The pure water flux of support membrane sintered in different conditions went down to a stable value as time flowed. |
