Research Team from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Fabricated Oil/Water Separation Composite Membranes Using Highborn’s Porous Alumina Ceramics and Published Relevant Findings
Recently, the peer-reviewed journal Membranes (2022, 12, 394, DOI: 10.3390/membranes12040394) published a research paper titled A Simple Approach to Fabricate Composite Ceramic Membranes Decorated with Functionalized Carbide-Derived Carbon for Oily Wastewater Treatment by the research team from the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The Materials and Methods section of the paper clearly states that all porous alumina supports applied in the experimental tests were purchased from Lianyungang Highborn Technologies Co., Ltd., Lianyungang, China.
1. Basic Substrate Specifications Recorded in the Original Manuscript (Extracted from Section 2.1 Materials)
All membrane samples fabricated in this study uniformly adopted porous alumina ceramic substrates supplied by Highborn Technology, with fixed parameters: open porosity of 45%, nominal pore size of 0.5 micron. The alumina substrate served as the rigid underlying skeleton of composite membranes. On the basis of this ceramic support, the research team completed a full set of modification procedures including loading APTES-functionalized carbide-derived carbon (APTES@CDC), piperazine impregnation, and interfacial polymerization with terephthaloyl chloride (TPC). Three groups of differentiated composite ceramic membranes, namely M-50, M-100 and M-200, were constructed for separation tests of surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions.
2. Complete Experimental System Supported by Alumina Substrates (All data cited from original test results)
A full range of material characterizations and long-term filtration stability tests were carried out relying on Highborn’s alumina supports, and all experimental data were obtained based on this domestic ceramic substrate:
Compatibility Verification with Membrane Modification Processes
Multiple characterization techniques including Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) with elemental mapping, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy confirmed that Highborn’s alumina substrates could firmly anchor CDC particles uniformly across the surface. Functional groups containing carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and silicon (Si) were homogeneously distributed on the substrate surface. The characteristic Al-O bond absorption band remained intact, proving that the ceramic support could withstand a full series of chemical and thermal treatments including ethanol dispersion, 50 °C constant-temperature modification, 60 °C curing and n-hexane rinsing. No side reactions occurred between the alumina substrate and organic modifiers such as APTES, piperazine and TPC, eliminating substrate contamination that would interfere with experimental data accuracy.
Structural Stability Under Transmembrane Pressure Conditions
The dead-end filtration cell adopted in all filtration tests operated at a maximum transmembrane pressure of 1.5 bar. No deformation or cracking of the alumina substrates was observed throughout the testing process, which shows perfect compatibility with standard laboratory dead-end filtration setups. During the 720 min long-term continuous operation test, the ceramic substrate stably immobilized the top polyamide-CDC composite active layer without leaching or detachment of functional materials.
Published Oil/Water Separation Performance Metrics (Official data from the journal article)
M-50 membrane loaded with 50 mg APTES@CDC achieved a permeate flux of 76.05 LMH (L m⁻² h⁻¹) under a feed oil concentration of 67.5 ppm and 1 bar transmembrane pressure;
M-200 membrane delivered the highest oil separation efficiency exceeding 99.88%;
The core sample M-100 maintained consistent separation performance over 720 min continuous filtration with only minor permeate flux decline, and the oil rejection rate remained stable at 99.8%;
Contact angle measurements verified that the modified composite membrane exhibited superhydrophilicity in air and underwater superoleophobicity, with the alumina substrate acting as a stable supporting platform for surface wettability regulation.
Guarantee of Repeatable Parallel Experimental Results
Gradient CDC loading contrast tests and variable-concentration feed tests (67.5 ppm, 125 ppm, 250 ppm oil-in-water emulsions) all adopted identical Highborn alumina substrates. Consistent patterns were observed in material characterization and filtration performance data across parallel samples, which verifies uniform porosity and surface flatness among batch products of Highborn’s alumina ceramics, a critical prerequisite for repeatable comparative research in academic labs.
3.Objective Statement of Scientific Research Value
The paper targets the treatment challenges of produced water from oilfield exploitation and surfactant-stabilized oily wastewater. Compared with polymeric ultrafiltration membranes and other ceramic membrane systems, alumina-based composite membranes exhibit comprehensive advantages including outstanding thermal and chemical inertness, low required operating pressure and high oil rejection efficiency. Highborn’s porous alumina supports with 45% porosity and 0.5 μm pore size provide standardized, structurally stable carrier substrates for this novel CDC-decorated ceramic membrane, functioning as an indispensable rigid skeleton for the whole oil/water separation membrane system.
This formal peer-reviewed academic paper published in the authoritative MDPI journal Membranes is the official public research literature that explicitly cites porous alumina ceramics supplied by Lianyungang Highborn Technology. It objectively validates the structural stability, batch-to-batch consistency and full-process modification compatibility of Highborn’s alumina supports in academic membrane fabrication, long-duration pressure-driven filtration and multi-step chemical functionalization procedures. Moving forward, Highborn Technology will continue to supply customized porous alumina ceramic substrates with tunable pore size (0.1–10 μm) and open porosity (30%–55%) according to customized laboratory research requirements, continuously providing standardized domestic substrate solutions for membrane separation research projects undertaken by universities and research institutes worldwide.
Company Profile
Lianyungang Highborn Technology Co., Ltd. specializes in the R&D and mass production of advanced porous ceramic components including porous alumina, silicon carbide and zirconia substrates. Customization services covering adjustable pore size (0.1–10 μm) and open porosity (30%–55%) are available. Our products are widely applicable to laboratory and pilot-scale research scenarios including oil/water separation, ultrafiltration/nanofiltration substrate fabrication, catalyst carriers and gas separation ceramic membranes. Our ceramic substrates have been exported to multiple countries and repeatedly adopted in formal research published in international。
Compliance Note
All substrate performance descriptions, experimental parameters and separation data cited in this news article are fully extracted from the original 2022 Membranes journal paper. No exaggerated performance claims or subjective overstatement are included; all statements can be cross-referenced and verified against the original academic manuscript.
Key Journal Original Terminology Consistency Instruction
All professional technical terms in this news strictly follow the expression used in the paper A Simple Approach to Fabricate Composite Ceramic Membranes Decorated with Functionalized Carbide-Derived Carbon for Oily Wastewater Treatment, including:
carbide-derived carbon (CDC), APTES, piperazine, terephthaloyl chloride (TPC), interfacial polymerization, dead-end filtration cell, transmembrane pressure, permeate flux (LMH), oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion, surfactant-stabilized emulsion, separation efficiency, oil rejection rate, long-term continuous operation, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX elemental mapping, X-ray diffraction (XRD), ATR-FTIR, superhydrophilic, underwater superoleophobic, open porosity, nominal pore size, produced water, polymeric ultrafiltration membrane, thermal and chemical inertness
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