The high quality zeolite Silicalite-1 membrane was prepared on a porous α-Al2O3 support tube by using a novel embellishing method. The zeolite Silicalite-1 was firstly prepared on the support tube by conventional hydrothermal synthesis and calcined at high temperature, and the calcined tube was then polished. Lastly, a high-quality Silicalite-1 membrane was obtained by subsequent hydrothermal synthesis. The synthesized silicalite-1 membrane was characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron micrography. The perm-selectivity of the membrane was characterized using a single-gas technique at room temperature. The results indicated that the as-prepared membrane was a typical silicalite-1 membrane with a smooth defect-free surface. The times of hydrothermal synthesis before polishing and the type of sanding greatly influenced the membrane quality. The permeation rate of H2 was 1.2 x 10-6mol/m2sPa, the ideal separation factors reached 3.9, 20.6 and 84.8 for H2/N2, H2/C3H8 and H2/SF6 at room temperature in as-prepared Silicalite-1 membrane.

Synthesis of Silicalite-1 Membrane by a Novel Embellishing Method and its Gas Permeance. C.L.Kong, D.M.Shen, J.M.Lu, J.H.Yang, J.Q.Wang: Acta Petrolei Sinica, 2008, 24[1], 106-11