Joshi A.
Agharkar Research Institute, IN
Keywords: easy fabrication route, nanochannels, nanowires, SEM, simple, XRD
Nanowires of K2Mo3O10.4H2O with high yield were synthesized in 15 min using simple chemical method at room temperature from aqueous precursors; (NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O and KCl mixed in a mass ratio of 3:1. Water solubility rate of the NWs; an essential parameter to be used as sacrificial template for nanochannel fabrication was determined to be ~300 nm/min. Fabrication of nanochannels was carried out with the obtained. The procedure begins with mounting two metal electrodes spaced few tens of microns apart followed by isolation and alignment of single NW using DEP. It is very important to mention that the electrodes for DEP were fabricated without using any arduous process such as photolithography. PDMS (poly(dimethyl siloxane)) was casted over the aligned NW, cured at 65 ºC for 3 h and demolded from the substrate with NW bridged between two electrodes. The NW present inside the PDMS was then etched by continuous flow of de-ionized water through reservoirs (DEP electrodes) resulting in formation of a nanochannel. The current process produces nanochannels with micro reservoirs for its application as nanofluidics using a simple, rapid, reproducible and importantly a low cost approach as compared to conventional techniques.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Nanotechnology 2011: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational
Published: June 13, 2011
Pages: 382 - 385
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: MEMS & NEMS Devices, Modeling & Applications
ISBN: 978-1-4398-7139-3