Abstract : The present work aims at developing and testing two new ultrafiltration ceramic membranes synthesized from a locally available barbotine, kaolin, zirconia (UM01 membrane) and 3-Mercaptopropyl-trimethyoxysilane (AUM01). The electrokinetic characterization of membranes highlighted a negative charge density over a wide range of pH. The addition of 3-Mercaptopropyl-trimethyoxysilane leads to a decrease in water permeability from around 95-35 L h(-1)m(-2) bar(-1). For both membranes, it was recognized that salt and dye rejections were strongly influenced by electrostatic interactions with the membrane surface where a considerable loss of performance with the increasing of ionic solution strength was induced. The maximum dye rejections were obtained with the AUM01 membrane and were close to 100% and 80% for cationic (methyl green and neutral red) and anionic (reactive black5) dyes, respectively.
