Degradation studies of alkyl-functionalized porous silicon in organic solvents

CHED 312

Nathan J. Line, porterl@wabash.edu and Lon A. Porter Jr. Department of Chemistry, Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN 47933
Recent work in our lab has focused on exploring various methods for grafting organic molecules onto porous silicon via thermal, Lewis acid, carbocation, and microwave mediated pathways. While many studies have explored the stability of functionalized porous silicon in aqueous solutions, none have attempted analogous experiments in organic solvent environments. This study presents preliminary data to show that many common organic solvents are benign with respect to porous silicon degradation, yet tetrahydrofuran and dimethyl sulfoxide were two solvents that caused significant oxidation. Porous silicon functionalized with a C6 monolayer demonstrated enhanced resistance to oxidation in the case of tetrahydrofuran in comparison to unfunctionalized controls. However, the C6 functionalized porous silicon provided no protection against oxidation when exposed to dimethyl sulfoxide. Oxidation was monitored using FTIR.