Compared with the conventional ceramic membrane fabricated from oxide particles,nanofiber membranes have the distinctive mesh structure and the nanofibers can divide large voids into smaller ones without leaving dead-end pores.The mesh structure enables the nanofiber membranes to exhibit high flux and excellent selectivity.Furthermore,the randomly oriented nanofibers have high elastic modulus and thermal stress resistance,decreasing the formation of pinholes and cracks during the drying and sintering process,and thus the sintered membranes with oxide nanofibers possess high thermal shock resistance[1].In this work,preparation of a new ceramic microfiltration membrane with a separation layer of Palygorskite nanofibers was investigated.Palygorskite is a hydrous layer-ribbon magnesium aluminum silicate mineral with a theoretical formula (Al2Mg2)Si8O20(OH)2(OH2)4·4H2O and the nanorod-like crystal[2,3].Palygorskite nanofiber has high degree of crystallinity and uniform size distribution and its particle diameter is 20-50nm and the length is 500-1500 nm.The palygorskite nanofiber were dispersed in the water and sonicated for 10 min to form a homogeneous suspension.Then,a membrane layer was formed on a porous α–alumina tubular support by a dip-coating method using the suspension.It was dried under an ambient environment for 24 h,at 70 ?C for 12 h and 110 ?C for 12 h,and then followed by sintering at 600 ?C for 3h in the muffle furnace (at a heating and cooling rate of 1℃/min).According to the SEM images,the surface of the prepared membrane was complete covered with the palygorskite nanofibers and crack-free,the palygorskite nanofibers were lying randomly on the substrate and the nanofibers layer with the thickness is 6.7 μm while the interface adherence to the ɑ-alumina substrate well (Fig 1).The average pore size of the palygorskite nanofiber membrane is 0.62 μm (Fig 2).The pure water flux of Palygorskite nanofiber membrane is equal to be 1.54×104 L/ (m2 h Mpa),and the nitrogen flux is equal to be 1.53×105L/ (m2 h Mpa).