Work

Pore Size Control of Ultrathin Silicon Membranes by Rapid Thermal Carbonization

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: Rapid thermal carbonization in a dilute acetylene (C(2)H(2)) atmosphere has been used to chemically modify and precisely tune the pore size of ultrathin porous nanocrystalline silicon (pnc-Si). The magnitude of size reduction was controlled by varying the process temperature and time. Under certain conditions, the carbon coating displayed atomic ordering indicative of graphene layer formation conformal to the pore walls. Initial experiments show that carbonized membranes follow theoretical predictions for hydraulic permeability and retain the precise separation capabilities of untreated membranes.

Source: Nano Letters

DOI: 10.1021/nl101602z

Authors: David Z. Fang, Christopher C. Striemer, Thomas R. Gaborski, James L. McGrath, Philippe M. Fauchet

Institutions: University of Rochester, SiMPore (United States)

Language: English

Topic: Membrane Separation and Gas Transport

Subfield: Mechanical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering

Awards: Ultrathin silicon nanofilters for efficient and small scale molecular separations, Charge and size based filtration by ultrathin silicon membranes