A better method is to vacuum dehydrate at vacuum/low pressure hot
Nitrogen then introduce the fumes of a suitable fluorinated chemical to
react with the substrate.  It removes the problem with the chemical
reacting with moisture at the start of the reaction.  There are a number
of commercially available units that do this.  Bill Moffat

________________________________

From: mems-talk-bounces+bmoffat=3Dyieldengineering.com@memsnet.org on =
behalf of Nathan McCorkle
Sent: Sat 3/27/2010 7:04 PM
To: General MEMS discussion
Subject: Re: [mems-talk] Best way to spin PDMS for making sheets?

I have access to a Heraeus Oven that can pull vacuum, the gauge on it
usually hangs between 50 and 0 mbar at minimum Nitrogen flow, though
for baking the lab manual says to keep it at 300 mbar with Nitrogen.
When I degass the PDMS mix in there I set it to 50 mbar, I don't use
heat, and I use a different oven to bake in.

I will have to check if I can bring FDTS into the lab first. I also
have access to a plasma etcher that has chloroform (I think, their web
server is down right now), oxygen, and a few others. What about the
biosafety of these chemicals on the PDMS?

-Nathan