Effective and efficient fabrication of high-flux tight ZrO₂ ultrafiltration membranes using a nanocrystalline precursor

The use of membrane technology in protein purification is limited by the subsequent membrane fouling. In this study, tight ZrO₂ ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with narrow pore size distributions, which effectively reduced the pollution of ceramic membranes, were prepared using a nanocrystalline precursor. The pore size distribution and permeance of the fabricated membranes were controlled by adjusting the sintering temperature. The molecular weight cut-off of the membranes increased from 25 kDa (7 nm) to 66 kDa (10.9 nm) as the sintering temperature increased from 400 °C to 800 °C, while their permeance increased from 135 to 225 L m⁻² h⁻¹ bar⁻¹. The ZrO₂ UF membrane sintered at the range of 400–600 °C was tested for the BSA molecules solution separation, which showed almost 100% of BSA molecules retention and demonstrated a stable permeance of approximately 80–95 L m⁻²·h⁻¹ bar⁻¹. Moreover, the sintering temperature of 500 °C was identified as the optimal temperature in terms of the removal of organic additives and energy consumption. The obtained results indicate that the prepared ZrO₂ UF membranes can be potentially used for protein separation.