Controlled transport of latex beads through vertically aligned carbon nanofiber membranes
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    Jouranal articles		 The following article appeared in JApplied Physics Letters -- July 1, 2002 -- Volume 81, Issue 1, pp. 135-137  and may be found at (URL/link for published article abstract).

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Copyright (2005) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

. Zhang, A. V. Melechko, V. I. Merkulov, M. A. Guillorn, and M. L. Simpson
Molecular-Scale Engineering and Nanoscale Technologies Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS 6006 Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
D. H. Lowndes
Thin Film and Nanostructured Materials Physics Group, Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS 6056, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
M. J. Doktycz
Life Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, MS 6123, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831

 

(Received 18 January 2002; accepted 2 May 2002)

Stripes of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) have been used to form membranes for size selectively controlling the transport of latex beads. Fluidic structures were created in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) and interfaced to the VACNF structures for characterization of the membrane pore size. Solutions of fluorescently labeled latex beads were introduced into the PDMS channels and characterized by fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that the beads size selectively pass through the nanofiber barriers and the size restriction limit correlates with the interfiber spacing. The results suggest that altering VACNF array density can alter fractionation properties of the membrane. Such membranes may be useful for molecular sorting and for mimicking the properties of natural membranes. ©2002 American Institute of Physics.