Ceramic Nanofiltration Membranes: Creating Nanopores by Calcination of Atmospheric-Pressure Molecular Layer Deposition Grown Titanicone Layers

Ceramic membrane technology, whether applied as a stand-alone separation technology or in combination with energy-intensive approaches like distillation, is a promising solution for lower energy alternatives with minimal carbon footprints. To improve the separation of solutes in the nanofiltration range from industrial wastewater streams, ceramic nanofiltration (NF) membranes with reproducible sub-nanometre pore sizes are required. To achieve this, the emerging technique of molecular layer deposition (MLD) is employed to develop ceramic NF membranes, and its efficiency and versatility make it a powerful tool for preparing uniform nanoscale high-porosity membranes. Our work, which involved vapor-phase titanium tetrachloride as a precursor and ethylene glycol as a co-reactant, followed by calcination in air at 350 °C, resulted in NF membranes with pore sizes (radii) around ~0.8 ± 0.1 nm and a demineralized water permeability of 13 ± 1 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹.The high-water flux with >90% rejection of polyethylene glycol molecules with a molecular size larger than 380 ± 6 Dalton indicates the efficiency of the MLD technique in membrane functionalization and size-selective separation processes, and its potential for industrial applications.