ABSTRACT
Transport across alumina nanoporous membranes can be altered via surface attachment of alkylated trimethoxysilane compounds. The mechanism of attachment has been previously assumed to be monolayer silane coverage through full chemisorption regardless of reaction conditions. This chemisorption arises via covalent Si-O-Al bond formation resulting from condensation between the three putative silanols (due to hydrolysis of the three Si-OCH(3) bonds) and hydroxides present on the alumina surface. If this model was correct, methanol would be produced in large quantities in the reaction solution, and the methoxy moieties would no longer be present on the silane molecule. The results presented in this paper utilized FT-IR and both solution and solid-state NMR to examine the chemical nature of octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODTMS) present on the alumina surface. The FT-IR results confirm the presence of the silane on the membrane. The (1)H solution NMR results indicate small but detectable methanol production during attachment. The solid-state NMR results demonstrate that the methoxy proton NMR integrated peak intensities remain in nearly the same ratios present in the free silane, concluding that the majority of methoxy groups are intact while the silane is attached to the membrane surface. These three results suggest that monolayer surface coverage and chemisorption through full covalent bonding is not the primary means of attachment for ODTMS on the surface of alumina nanomembranes under these reaction conditions.
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the use of several characterization methods to examinealumina nanotubule membranes that have been modified with specific silanes. The functionof these silanes is to alter the transport properties through the membrane by changing thelocal environment inside the alumina nanotube. The presence of alkyl groups, either long(C18) or short and branched (isopropyl) hydrocarbon chains, on these silanes significantlydecreases the rate of transport of permeant molecules through membranes containingalumina nanotubes as monitored via absorbance spectroscopy. The presence of an ionicsurfactant can alter the polarity of these modified nanotubes, which correlates to anincreased transport of ions. Fluorescent spectroscopy is also utilized to enhance thesensitivity of detecting these permeant molecules. Confirmation of the alkylsilaneattachment to the alumina membrane is achieved with traditional infrared spectroscopy,which can also examine the lifetime of the modified membrane. The physical parameters ofthese silane-modified porous alumina membranes are studied via scanning electronmicroscopy. The alumina nanotubes are not physically closed off or capped by the silanesthat are attached to the alumina surfaces.
