ABSTRACT
Microporous inorganic membranes have received considerable attention for their potential application in the molecular separation of gaseous or liquid mixtures, because of their excellent stability and high separation performance. They are expected to be utilized under harsh operating conditions such as high temperature and high pressure and in the presence of organic vapors and solvents, which conventional polymeric membranes cannot withstand. This chapter reviews fabrication of silica-based membranes using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). A silica layer was deposited onto the substrate using an inductively coupled radio frequency (RF) plasma reactor. The reactor consisted of a quartz tube surrounded by an RF coil. The room-temperature fabrication of silica-based membranes potentially allows the deposition of these membranes onto polymeric supports, which are less expensive but with lower thermal stability than ceramic supports. The membrane prepared via low-pressure 2-step PECVD sequence displayed an excellent molecular sieving property.
