The Impact of the Nanostructure of the Functional Polysiloxane Layer in Planar Ceramic Membranes on their Sorption Properties

The paper describes the functionalization of planar ceramic membranes (Al2O3) with the active layer containing 3-mercaptopropyl complexing groups. The sol-gel method was used for that. There was analyzed the influence of the ratio of alkoxysilanes and the dilution of the original sol on the nanostructure of the produced surface layer. The work is aimed to develop the techniques for ceramic membranes functionalization by complexing groups, therefore, these membranes can be used for the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous media in the process of filtration.