Design and Fabrication of a Silicon-Based Pore Network for Studying the Bioremediation of Chlorinated Solvents
Micromodels designed to study microbial growth with exposure to diluted chlorinated solvents have been fabricated to learn more about groundwater treatment of organic solvent contamination. These micromodels, however, are not inert to pure phase chlorinated solvents, which means that tests with pure phase chlorinated solvents cannot be done on these models. The purpose of this research is to develop a micromodel that is inert to pure phase chlorinated solvents and thus able to withstand continuous exposure to these chemicals. The development of this micromodel will begin by designing its body and pore network in a high resolution computer graphics program. A lithography mask of this design will then be created and used to etch the micromodel on a silicon wafer. Following the etching of the micromodel, I will try to anodically bond glass to both sides of the silicon wafer of the micromodel and then to weld glass tubes to the glass bonded to the silicon wafer. These last two steps may present complications since these are procedures that were not used in the previous designs.
School:
Loyola Marymount University
Department:
Mechanical Engineering
Research Advisor:
Charles Werth
Department of Research Advisor:
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Year of Publication:
2003