Thermal transpiration in zeolites: A mechanism for motionless gas pumps

We explore the use of a naturally occurring zeolite, clinoptilolite, for a chip-scale, thermal transpiration-based gas pump. The nanopores in clinoptilolite enable the required free-molecular flow, even at atmospheric pressure. The pump utilizes a foil heater located between zeolite disks in a plast...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2008-11, Vol.93 (19), p.193511-193511-3
Main Authors: Gupta, Naveen K., Gianchandani, Yogesh B.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We explore the use of a naturally occurring zeolite, clinoptilolite, for a chip-scale, thermal transpiration-based gas pump. The nanopores in clinoptilolite enable the required free-molecular flow, even at atmospheric pressure. The pump utilizes a foil heater located between zeolite disks in a plastic package. A 2.3 mm thick zeolite disk generates a typical gas flow rate of 6.6 × 10 − 3 cc/min - cm 2 with an input power of < 300 mW ∕ cm 2 . The performance is constrained by imperfections in clinoptilolite, which provide estimated leakage apertures of 10.2 - 13.5 μ m ∕ cm 2 of flow cross section. The transient response of the pump is studied to quantify nonidealities.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.3025304