Microfluidic Channels in Porous Silicon Filled with a Carbon Absorbent for GAS Preconcentration

This paper presents the development of a gas pre-concentrator based on a micro-reactor in porous silicon filled with carbon nanopowders in solution. The particularity of this microsystem is its applicability in the fields of atmospheric pollution monitoring and explosives detection. The performances of the device are closely related to the design of the micro-reactor and the choice of the adsorbent material. The benefits of using porous silicon to ease the fixing of the carbon absorbent in the reactor and to enhance gas adsorption are also investigated. Preliminary results on a device based on a carbon adsorbent powder filled in a porous silicon micro-reactor for benzene pre-concentration are reported.