Home › Cell Biology › Proof-of-Concept for Gas-Entrapping Membranes Derived from Water-Loving SiO2/Si/SiO2 Wafers for Green Desalination
Cell Biology JoVE (Open Access) Citable · DOI

Proof-of-Concept for Gas-Entrapping Membranes Derived from Water-Loving SiO2/Si/SiO2 Wafers for Green Desalination

DOI: 10.3791/60583-v
What you'll learn
  • ✓ Fabricate gas-entrapping membranes from SiO2/Si wafers using microfabrication techniques
  • ✓ Apply photolithography and etching to create hydrophobic membrane structures
  • ✓ Demonstrate water resistance in silica-based membranes for desalination applications
Protocol

Presented here is a stepwise protocol for realizing gas-entrapping membranes (GEMs) from SiO2/Si wafers using integrated circuit microfabrication technology. When silica-GEMs are immersed in water, the intrusion of water is prevented, despite the water-loving composition of silica.

Difficulty
advanced
Total time
~3–5 days (including photolithography, sputtering, etching, and characterization steps)

Steps

1
Clean wafer and deposit HMDS for lithography

Perform wafer cleaning followed by hexamethyldisilane (HMDS) deposition to prepare the SiO2/Si substrate for photoresist application and patterning.

▶ 01:04
2
Sputter deposit material and perform resist lift-off

Conduct sputtering deposition and photoresist lift-off processing, then perform manual back-side wafer alignment and lithography for the reverse side patterning.

▶ 03:28
3
Etch membrane structures and clean wafer

Execute etching processes to define the gas-entrapping membrane geometry, followed by final wafer cleaning to remove residues and contaminants.

▶ 04:46
4
Characterize water resistance of silica GEM

Immerse the fabricated silica-based gas-entrapping membrane in water to demonstrate and visualize water exclusion despite the hydrophilic nature of silica.

▶ 07:41
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