Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Happenings
  • Events
  • Functionalised Silicon Nanoporous Membranes for a Portable Dialysis Apparatus
Functionalised Silicon Nanoporous Membranes for a Portable Dialysis Apparatus

Functionalised Silicon Nanoporous Membranes for a Portable Dialysis Apparatus

Date6th Apr 2021

Time02:00 PM

Venue meet.google.com/bne-pwig-wgv

PAST EVENT

Details

Silicon nanoporous membranes (SNMs), capable of efficiently clearing uremic toxins, constitute an important component of compact and portable dialysis systems. In the present study, SNMs of 15 nm thickness and average pore diameter of 8 nm were fabricated using standard micromachining batch processes. Unlike the commonly used polymer membranes in dialysers, where the pore diameters vary from a few nanometers to ~5 μm, 80% of the pore diameters in the SNMs are restricted between 8 and 12 nm. The SNMs were functionalised to reduce the surface binding of urea to negligible value. Efficacy of the SNMs was tested for the dialysis of two uremic toxins - urea and creatinine using a custom made teflon apparatus of volume 2 ml having semi-circular fluid flow path across the membrane. SNM arrays were made to increase the throughput and handle a volume of 10 ml, as reported in the first seminar. A modified apparatus has been designed of 30 ml volume incorporating a laminar flow path. The apparatus consists of two reservoirs, with the cis containing the uremic fluid, and the trans containing the dialysate. Measurements were done using a mock fluid and diluted human blood-plasma. Protein binding on the functionalized SNM surface was found to be less compared to the native SNM. A composite membrane of porous silicon of diameter 1-2 µm and SNMs has been done to separate blood cells from the plasma prior to the SNM clearing the uremic toxins. Loss of proteins, like albumen, is a major challenge in hemodialysis. An investigation was done to confine the maximum number of pores in the range of 3-6 nm diameter by tuning the annealing temperature around 850o C - 900o C and the oxide thickness around 100 nm-150 nm. The optimisation of the oxide deposition parameters has been carried out to realize an improved quality SiOx film using ICP-PECVD which leads to thin SiOx layer growth and thereby pore formation at lower annealing temperature.This improved oxide film quality was brought about by reducing ICP power while simultaneously increasing RF power. The pore diameter and porosity of SNM have reduced at lower RTA temperature and at higher oxide thickness. Maximum numbers of pores are confined in the range of 3-6 nm at 850 °C having oxide thickness of 100 nm. Thus, the functionalized SNMs with tunable pores and porosities can be used for efficient uremic clearance while retaining important blood proteins during hemodialysis.

Speakers

Ananya Ghosh (EE16D009)

Electrical Engineering