Article: Low stress nanoporous SiNx membrane for cell culture Journal: International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering (IJCMSSE) 2009 Vol.2 No.3/4 pp.268 - 281 Abstract: Micromachined nanoporous membrane for cell culture is one of the promising applications for biomolecular separation and immunoisolation, in which Silicon Nitride (SiNx) receives particular interest due to its several advantages compared to polymeric membranes. Our works focused on fabricating nanoporous SiNx layer with near zero residual stress. This paper investigated the influence of Radio Frequency (RF), power and reactant gases to the SiNx deposition rates and residual stress, and developed the optimised process to produce near zero stress SiNx layer. By applying this technique, nanoporous SiNx membranes have been fabricated and tested for cell culture. By cultivating the mouse D1 mesenchymal stem cells on top of the nanoporous membrane, the results showed that mouse D1 mesenchymal stem cells were able to grow well. This shows that the nanoporous membrane can be used as the platform for interfacing with living cells to become biocapsules for biomolecular separation and immunoisolation. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Low stress nanoporous SiN_x membrane for cell culture

Authors: Jia-Shen Wei, Kwong Joo Leck, Philip Gaughwin, Marioara Avram, Ciprian Iliescu

Addresses: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, #04-01, Singapore 138669. ' Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, #04-01, Singapore 138669. ' Genome Institute of Singapore, #02-01 Genome, 60 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138672. ' National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies (IMT Bucharest), Str. Erou Iancu Nicolae 32B, Bucharest 7225, Romania. ' Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, #04-01, Singapore 138669

Abstract: Micromachined nanoporous membrane for cell culture is one of the promising applications for biomolecular separation and immunoisolation, in which Silicon Nitride (SiN_x) receives particular interest due to its several advantages compared to polymeric membranes. Our works focused on fabricating nanoporous SiN_x layer with near zero residual stress. This paper investigated the influence of Radio Frequency (RF), power and reactant gases to the SiN_x deposition rates and residual stress, and developed the optimised process to produce near zero stress SiN_x layer. By applying this technique, nanoporous SiN_x membranes have been fabricated and tested for cell culture. By cultivating the mouse D1 mesenchymal stem cells on top of the nanoporous membrane, the results showed that mouse D1 mesenchymal stem cells were able to grow well. This shows that the nanoporous membrane can be used as the platform for interfacing with living cells to become biocapsules for biomolecular separation and immunoisolation.

Keywords: low stress; nanoporous membranes; PECVD; plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition; CVD; SiNx deposition; silicon nitride; mixed frequency; cell culture; biomolecular separation; immunoisolation; micromachining; fabrication; residual stress; mouse stem cells; biocapsules.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCMSSE.2009.027486

International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Surface Engineering, 2009 Vol.2 No.3/4, pp.268 - 281

Published online: 28 Jul 2009 *

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Title: Low stress nanoporous SiN_x membrane for cell culture