Effects of particle size and sintering atmosphere on the structure and performance of 316L/SiC composite hollow fiber membranes

316L stainless steel hollow fiber membranes (HFs) are alternatives for polymer and ceramic based membranes. Chemical and waste treatment industries are application areas of HFs and they are used as particle filter of liquid and gas separations. Hollow fiber membranes were produced by dry-wet spinning technique which is one of the production methods of HFs. The aim of the study is to produce metal matrix composite (316L+SiC) hollow fiber membranes using different particle sizes (coarse, fine and their mixture) and sintering them by different sintering atmospheres (argon and nitrogen/hydrogen), and to examine the chemical compositions, electrical resistivity, pore amount, average pore size and pore shape and distribution. The hollow fibers are then subjected to a 3-point bending test to determine their mechanical properties. Gas permeation tests were also used to characterize the hollow fiber membranes. HFs produced from coarse particles show lower densification. On the other hand, the finest particle size gives the highest bending strength and bending deflection.