I have silicon nanoparticles, and i dip them into 1% HF solution to get rid of oxide shell on them. after few seconds, when i look at the surface, i realized that i do not have particles anymore.
Does anyone have experience about this?
Any hints about, % of HF, or time of dipping would be perfect help for me...
If someone already tried this process, how long particles stay oxide-free?
Hi,
The general concentration of HF dilute solution to remove native oxide of Silicon substrate can be from 2% to 10%. I believe 1% should work too, but you might need longer etch time to remove the native oxide.
As for nanoparticles disappearing, HF should only remove SiO2, not Si so I believe you should still have the particle in your solution. You can also try SEM/TEM to confirm the existence of your particles.
Thank you for your reply.
after i etched them i used SEM to see if i still have my partiles but i dont see any particles left.
this should be also wetting behaviuour of my silicon nanaoparticles onto silicon dioxide surface. after HF dipping they left the oxide surface.
When I usually prepare our Si-Np we suspended them in Ethanol, which prevents oxidation over months (We used Sailor et al protocols). Have you monitored the oxidation process using IR?. You might obtained a more reliable proof of the oxidation issue
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