Preparation and characterization of ceramic microfiltration membranes for removal of Cr (VI) and Pb from electroplating effluent

Abstract

Present work deals the removal of Cr (VI) and Pb from electroplating effluent (EPE) using ceramic membrane MD-1 (ceramic membrane without coating) and MD-2 (ceramic membrane with chitosan coating). Uniaxial compaction followed by sintering process has been applied to prepare the membrane from locally available clay. Results indicate that maximum removal of 65% Cr (VI) and 68% Pb has been achieved by use of MD-1 membrane, while, MD-2 removed 81% Cr (VI) and 93% Pb, from the initial feed concentration of 55.3 mg/dm³ Cr(VI) and 3.5 mg/dm³ Pb at optimum operating condition pH 3.5 and applied pressure 300 kPa.