(The) effects of hydrogels for 3D printed zeolite 13X composite systems for water treatment

Abstract

We have conducted a study of 3D printing (material extrusion, ME) ceramic composite filters of zeolite 13X composite inks mixing with deionized water, hydrogels (aluminosilicate gel, copper ferrocyanide gel), individually, forming a complex structure, twisted honeycomb for the water treatment. Adding an aluminosilicate gel brought the non-dissolution of 3D printed filters under an aqueous environment and adding a copper ferrocyanide gel, the mechanical strength of 3D printed filter reached to 18.2±1.23 MPa, up to 80% from the zeolite 13X+deionized water condition. The adsorption capacity of 3D printed filters was 10-90% lower than a pure zeolite 13X powder, specifically, with a copper ferrocyanide gel showing the highest adsorption capacity as a filter form because of larger mesopore size rather than other conditions. Furthermore, we suggested the new qualitative criteria of printability for ceramic inks through extrusion type 3D printing, the threshold value of loss factor (tan δ) was 0.1 because feasible ceramic inks should have an appropriate storage modulus (G’) and loss modulus (G’’).