Design and Fabrication of Zeolite-containing Microstructures

Abstract

Zeolites can be employed as catalysts, membranes and structural materials in the design architecture of miniature chemical devices. Traditional semiconductor technology was employed in the fabrication of micromachined silicon structures. MFI-type zeolites were grown in-situ on silicon supports by hydrothermal synthesis. Another new fabrication procedure was developed based on microelectronic fabrication and zeolite thin film technologies. The fabricated miniature zeolite-based structures can find applications as catalytic microreactors, membrane sensors, electrochemical cells and membrane microseparators.