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Large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-?m PDMS through-hole membranes.

ABSTRACT: Free-standing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through-hole membranes have been studied extensively in recent years for chemical and biomedical applications. However, robust fabrication of such membranes with sub-?m through-holes, and at a sub-?m thickness over large areas is challenging. In this paper, we report a robust and simple method for large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-?m PDMS through-hole membranes, combining soft-lithography with reactive plasma etching techniques. First, arrays of sub-?m photoresist (PR) columns were patterned on another spin-coated sacrificial PR layer, using conventional photolithography processes. Subsequently, a solution of PDMS?:?hexane at a 1?:?10 ratio was spin-coated over these fabricated arrays. The cured PDMS membrane was etched in a plasma mixture of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and oxygen (O2) to open the through-holes. This PDMS membrane can be smoothly released with a supporting ring by completely dissolving the sacrificial PR structures in acetone. Using this fabrication method, we demonstrated the fabrication of free-standing PDMS membranes at various sub-?m thicknesses down to 600 ± 20 nm, and nanometer-sized through-hole (810 ± 20 nm diameter) densities, over areas as large as 3 cm in diameter. Furthermore, we demonstrated the potential of the as-prepared membranes as cell-culture substrates for biomedical applications by culturing endothelial cells on these membranes in a Transwell-like set-up.

SUBMITTER: Le-The H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5944386 | biostudies-other | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-μm PDMS through-hole membranes.

Le-The Hai H Tibbe Martijn M Loessberg-Zahl Joshua J Palma do Carmo Marciano M van der Helm Marinke M Bomer Johan J van den Berg Albert A Leferink Anne A Segerink Loes L Eijkel Jan J

Nanoscale 20180401 16

Free-standing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) through-hole membranes have been studied extensively in recent years for chemical and biomedical applications. However, robust fabrication of such membranes with sub-μm through-holes, and at a sub-μm thickness over large areas is challenging. In this paper, we report a robust and simple method for large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-μm PDMS through-hole membranes, combining soft-lithography with reactive plasma etching techniques. First, arr ...[more]

PMID: 29658030

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Project description:Several thousands of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have been reported to date, but the information on H2/N2 separation performances of MOF membranes is currently very limited in the literature. We report the first large-scale computational screening study that combines state-of-the-art molecular simulations, grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) and molecular dynamics (MD), to predict H2 permeability and H2/N2 selectivity of 3765 different types of MOF membranes. Results showed that MOF membranes offer very high H2 permeabilities, 2.5 × 103 to 1.7 × 106 Barrer, and moderate H2/N2 membrane selectivities up to 7. The top 20 MOF membranes that exceed the polymeric membranes' upper bound for H2/N2 separation were identified based on the results of initial screening performed at infinite dilution condition. Molecular simulations were then carried out considering binary H2/N2 and quaternary H2/N2/CO2/CO mixtures to evaluate the separation performance of MOF membranes under industrial operating conditions. Lower H2 permeabilities and higher N2 permeabilities were obtained at binary mixture conditions compared to the ones obtained at infinite dilution due to the absence of multicomponent mixture effects in the latter. Structure-performance relations of MOFs were also explored to provide molecular-level insights into the development of new MOF membranes that can offer both high H2 permeability and high H2/N2 selectivity. Results showed that the most promising MOF membranes generally have large pore sizes (>6 Å) as well as high surface areas (>3500 m2/g) and high pore volumes (>1 cm3/g). We finally examined H2/N2 separation potentials of the mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) in which the best MOF materials identified from our high-throughput screening were used as fillers in various polymers. Results showed that incorporation of MOFs into polymers almost doubles H2 permeabilities and slightly enhances H2/N2 selectivities of polymer membranes, which can advance the current membrane technology for efficient H2 purification.

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Large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-?m PDMS through-hole membranes.

Publications

Large-scale fabrication of free-standing and sub-μm PDMS through-hole membranes.

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