Title :
A hydrogen separation module based on wafer-scale micromachined palladium-silver alloy membranes
Author :
Tong, H.D. ; Gielens, F.C. ; Hoang, H.T. ; Berenschot, J.W. ; de Boer, M.J. ; Gardeniers, J.G.E. ; Jansen, H.V. ; Nijdam, W. ; van Rijn, C.J.M. ; Elwenspoek, M.C.
Author_Institution :
MESA + Res. Inst., Twente Univ., Enschede, Netherlands
Abstract :
A thin but strong and defect free palladium-silver (Pd-Ag) alloy membrane is fabricated with a sequence of well-known thin film and micromachining techniques. A microfabrication process also creates a robust wafer-scale membrane module, which is easy to be integrated into a membrane holder to have gastight connections to the outer world. The microfabricated membranes have been tested to determine the mechanical strength, hydrogen permeability and hydrogen selectivity. The membranes have high mechanical strength and can withstand pressures up to 3 bars at room temperature. High flow rates of up to 3.6 mol H/sub 2//m/sup 2/.s have been measured with a minimal selectivity of 1500 for H/sub 2//He. The membranes survived operation at 450/spl deg/C, which is a temperature relevant for practical application in industry, for more than 1000 hours.
Keywords :
fracture toughness; hydrogen; membranes; metallic thin films; micromachining; palladium alloys; permeability; silver alloys; sputter deposition; 1000 hour; 293 to 298 K; 450 degC; H/sub 2/; PdAg; flow rate; gastight connections; hydrogen permeability; hydrogen selectivity; hydrogen separation module; mechanical strength; micromachining techniques; room temperature; thin film; wafer scale micromachined palladium silver alloy membranes; Bars; Biomembranes; Fluid flow measurement; Hydrogen; Micromachining; Permeability; Robustness; Temperature; Testing; Transistors;
Conference_Titel :
TRANSDUCERS, Solid-State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 12th International Conference on, 2003
Conference_Location :
Boston, MA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-7731-1
DOI :
10.1109/SENSOR.2003.1217122
