The membrane support is the basis for the preparation and application of the zeolite membrane and its cost and properties directly determine the performance of the zeolite membrane as well as its industrial applications. In this paper, the direct synthesis of NaA zeolite membrane on a novel low-cost support via an in situ reaction by utilizing natural clay can enable a significant reduction in manufacturing costs. During the preparation of the support for the NaA zeolite membrane, additives, such as Al₂O₃, Al(OH)₃ and AlF₃, were combined with kaolin clay and used as alumina precursors. Using the resulting porous mullite support, the effects of the firing temperature on the permeability and pore structure of the support were investigated extensively. The results of the experiment showed that silica in the natural clay was reacted by the Al₂O₃ precursor additives, producing a needle-like mullite in situ that served as a rigid skeleton porous structure for the support. Thus, a network porous structure of the mullite support could be formed during sintering process. The prepared network porous structure mullite supports exhibited a high pure water permeance of 3324 L m² h¹ bar¹, open porosity of 41.8% and a mean pore size of 1.36 µm which was ideal for the preparation of the NaA zeolite membrane.

膜载体是沸石膜制备和应用的基础，其成本和性能直接决定了沸石膜的性能及其工业应用。在本文中，利用天然粘土通过原位反应在新型低成本载体上直接合成 NaA 沸石膜可以显着降低制造成本。在制备NaA沸石膜的载体时，Al ₂ O ₃、Al(OH) ₃和AlF ₃等添加剂, 与高岭土结合用作氧化铝前体。使用所得多孔莫来石载体，广泛研究了烧制温度对载体渗透性和孔结构的影响。实验结果表明，天然粘土中的二氧化硅与 Al ₂ O ₃前体添加剂反应，原位产生针状莫来石，作为载体的刚性骨架多孔结构。因此，在烧结过程中可以形成莫来石载体的网络多孔结构。制备的网络多孔结构莫来石载体表现出3324 L m ² h ¹  bar ¹的高纯水渗透率，开孔率为 41.8%，平均孔径为 1.36 µm，非常适合制备 NaA 沸石膜。