Scientists in Korea have developed a new way to produce nanosieves, thin layers with holes just millionths of a millimeter across, using an industrial process commonly used to make semiconductors.

The discovery could be used to make selectively permeable membranes ― sieves that only allow specific types of particles to move across them. Synthetic membranes of this type have applications ranging from medical and environmental to energy.

In a project supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the team led by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology professor Yoon Joon-bo and Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute’s Lee Dae-sik used a physical vapor deposition method to produce 300-nanometer-thick sieves.

In physical vapor deposition, a process used to make semiconductors and displays, a surface is coated with a thin film by exposing it to the vaporized form of the desired material. In the film produced using the method, the component particles are arranged in tight columns with nano-scale openings of consistent size in between the columns.

In contrast, most experimental methods for producing similar nanosieves first make the film then use ion beams to make holes of the desired size, resulting in longer and more expensive production process.

In the experiment, results of which were published in the latest issue of the journal Advanced Materials, the team was able to filter out 1-nanometer and 6-nanometer particles perfectly and 100 times faster than the membranes currently in use.

In addition, the sieves produced by Yoon and Lee’s team sustained no mechanical damage when exposed to a pressure of 2 atmospheres for more than an hour, the Science Ministry said.

According to the U.K.-based journal, which specializes in water-market related issues, the market for membranes may expand to 37 trillion won ($33 billion) by 2016 from the 14 trillion won recorded in 2010.

The local market for membranes is estimated to be worth around 900 billion won but is mostly reliant on imported materials.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)