This paper investigates the interaction of human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells with stainless steel covered by a film of densely inter-grown silicalite-1 crystals with defined outer and inner surfaces. The chemical composition of this film, labeled as SF(RT), was tuned by heat treatment at 300°C and 500°C (labeled as SF(300) and SF(500), respectively) and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), water drop contact angle (WCA) measurements and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The number, the spreading area and the activity of alkaline phosphatase of human osteoblast-like Saos-2 cells in cultures on the silicalite-1 film were affected by the chemical composition of its outer surface and by its micro-porous structure. The number and the spreading area of the adhered osteoblast-like cells on day 1 was highest on the surface of SF(RT) relative to their adhesion and spreading on a glass cover slip due to the SF(RT) topology. However, SF(300) markedly supported cell growth during days 3 and 7 after seeding.
Composite membranes containing molecular sieve particles embedded in a polyimide matrix are promising due to their increased permeability and high selectivity in gas separation processes. Determination of permeability of dense membranes is time-consuming and the resulting values are loaded with experimental errors. The impact of uncertainty in various quantities on the reliability of the permeability values measured by the constant volume/ variable pressure method was analyzed. The total uncertainty of the measurements on polyimide/Silicalite-1 membranes is 7–13 %, the errors in membrane thickness and permeation coefficient being the main contributing factors.
