GOALI: Separations with molecularly thin silicon membranes

1159579麦格拉思这个由化学和生物分离计划授予的NSF奖项支持James麦格拉思和Philippe M Fauchet教授的工作，他们专注于多孔纳米晶硅（pnc-Si）的开发和应用。Pnc-Si是一种硅基纳米多孔膜，比过滤和分离过程中使用的传统膜材料薄1000倍以上。膜的薄度赋予其非凡的渗透性，并在对流和扩散运输中实现高分辨率分离。结合硅制造工艺提供的可制造性，pnc-Si膜代表了一种重要的新膜平台，在传感器、芯片实验室系统和生物医学设备中具有广泛的用途。这项资助下的工作将阐明分离过程中膜结构和性能之间的基本关系。制造方法将调整孔径和其他膜特性，以便膜针对涉及蛋白质、DNA和纳米颗粒的特定分离进行优化。该提案的最终目标是建立一个分析和/或计算模型，该模型可以根据膜、溶质和过滤方法的理化性质预测筛分性能。这些结果将允许合理使用pnc-Si和其他可渗透膜用于新设备，如微型病原体检测器和可穿戴血液透析系统。

1159579McGrathThis NSF award by the Chemical and Biological Separations program supports work by Professors James McGrath and Philippe M Fauchet focused on development and application of porous nanocrystalline silicon (pnc-Si). Pnc-Si is a silicon-based nanoporous membrane that is more than 1000 times thinner than conventional membrane materials used in filtration and separation processes. The thinness of the membrane endows it with extraordinary permeability and enables high resolution separations in both convective and diffusive transport. Combined with the manufacturability afforded by the silicon manufacturing process, pnc-Si membranes represent an important new membrane platform with a wide range of uses in sensors, lab-on-a-chip systems, and biomedical devices. The work under this funding will elucidate the basic relationships between membrane structure and performance in separation processes. Manufacturing methods will tune pore sizes and other membrane properties so that the membranes are optimized for particular separations involving proteins, DNA, and nanoparticles. The ultimate goal of the proposal is an analytical and/or computational model that can predict sieving performance based on the physiochemical properties of the membrane, the solute, and the method of filtration. The results will allow the rational use pnc-Si and other ultrathin membranes for new devices such as miniaturized pathogen detectors and wearable hemodialysis systems.