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Functionalized silicon membranes for selective bio-organism capture

Nature Materials volume 2, pages 391–395 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Membranes with various pore size, length, morphology and density have been synthesized from diverse materials1,2,3,4,5 for size-exclusion-based separation. An example is the sterilization of intravenous lines by exclusion of bacteria and viruses using polyvinylidene fluoride membranes with 0.1-μm-diameter pores. Chemically specific filtration has recently been addressed for small molecules6,7,8,9,10. Nevertheless, specific bio-organism immobilization and detection remains a great technical challenge in many biomedical applications, such as decontamination or analysis of air and liquids such as drinking water and body fluids. To achieve this goal, materials with controlled pore diameter, length and surface chemistry are required. In this letter, we present the first functionalized silicon membranes and demonstrate their ability to selectively capture simulated bio-organisms. These extremely versatile and rigid devices open the door to a new class of materials that are able to recognize the external fingerprints of bio-organisms—such as size and outer membrane proteins—for specific capture and detection applications.

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Figure 1: Pre-patterned silicon sample.
Figure 2: Silicon membranes.
Figure 3: Selective capture of simulated bio-organisms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract W-7405-Eng-48. It was funded by a Laboratory Directed Research and Development grant (LDRD-ER # 00-ERD-009). The authors are very grateful to John G. Reynolds for the considerable amount of advice that he provided for the design of the chemical linker.

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  1. Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, 94550, California, USA

    Sonia E. Létant, Bradley R. Hart, Anthony W. van Buuren & Louis J. Terminello

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  1. Sonia E. Létant
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  2. Bradley R. Hart
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  3. Anthony W. van Buuren
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Correspondence to Sonia E. Létant.

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Supplementary information

Membrane functionalization method

Figure 1 Physical and optical properties of dyed polystyrene micro-beads used in this study. (PDF 150 kb)

Figure 2 Permeation of silicon membranes by dyed polystyrene microbeads.

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Létant, S., Hart, B., van Buuren, A. et al. Functionalized silicon membranes for selective bio-organism capture. Nature Mater 2, 391–395 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat888

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