Design, Fabrication and Characterization of silicon Nanostructures for Lead (Pb+) ion detection

Abstract

Silicon nanostructure were prepared using cheap and in-house technique developed in INEE. Amino-functionalized Si nanowires were tested against heavy metal lead (Pb). The device was fabricated via dry oxide etching approach with control oxygen flow rate in oxidation furnace, network of uniform Si nanowires was successfully fabricated. The device was functionalized by (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) to save as a sensor to heavy metal. Due to the silicon electrochemical response toward heavy metal ions, linear response to three different sources of water were observed. The results indicated, Pb can be detected with high precision. Furthermore, confirmation was demonstrated using atomic absorption spectroscopy instrument (AAS) to determine the level lead content in each water source. Three sources of water were tested: Tab water (H2O), River (H2O), DI (H2O) and 0.0859mg/L, 0.0929mg/L, 0.023 mg/L with ∼ 52pA, 60pA and 70pA current response respectively. Thus, with this high capability to discriminate water samples, the sensor potential to be employed for an effective heavy metals detection and can further be extended for large sensor network in water treatment plant.