Preparation, characterization and analysis of Diatomite and Crystalline Nanocellulose nanocomposites for application as biomembranes
Diatomite, Nanocrystalline Cellulose, nanocomposites, biomembranes, filtration.
Diatomite nanocomposites have become the subject of significant interest in the research and development of reliable filter materials which can enable the democratic access to freshwater with fair quality. This holds true due to the safe chemical composition and the naturally standardized porous microstructure of this unique material. In this study, the White Diatomite Ceramic Powder was used in the fabrication of biomembranes with controlled porosity. Ceramic laminates (with 3 and 4 layers of tape-casted tapes) were subjected to warm pressing followed by binder removal and sintering. The White Diatomite powder was characterized via Laser Diffraction Particle Size Analysis, XRF, XRD and FE-SEM. The determination of the viscosimetric behavior of the ceramic suspension used on the tape casting process, fabricated with the addition of the Diatomite powder, was carried out with rheological tests on a cone-plate system. TG/DT analysis were performed to investigate the thermogravimetric behavior of tape-casted Diatomite tapes. The thermal treatment route implemented in this work fostered the observation, via XRD, of the transformation of biogenic amorphous silica into tetragonal cristobalite and low quartz with hexagonal symmetry. Thus, polymeric nanoparticles of NCC were applied, via Silk Screen Coating, onto the surface of Diatomite sintered laminates, leading to the final nanocomposite obtained in this study: Diatomite biomembranes superficially coated with NCC. Subsequently, FE-SEM analysis signaled the partial reduction on the pore size distribution near the surface of the produced biomembranes, on account of the identification the NCC nanoparticles on the interior of the Diatomite-matrix’s pores.