Integrated UV-based photo microreactor-distillation technology toward process intensification of continuous ultra-high-purity electronic-grade silicon tetrachloride manufacture

Ultra-high-purity silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4) is demanded as an electronic-grade chemical to meet the stringent requirements of the rapidly developing semiconductor industry. The high requirement for ultra-high-purity SiCl4 has created the need for a high-efficient process for reducing energy consumption as well as satisfying product quality. In this paper, a mass of production technology of ultra-high-purity SiCl4 was successfully developed through chlorination reaction in the ultraviolet (UV)-based photo microreactor coupled with the distillation process. The influences of key operational parameters, including temperature, pressure, UV wavelength and light intensity on the product quality, especially for hydrogen-containing impurities, were quantified by the infrared transmittance of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) at 2185 cm−1 and 2160 cm−1 indicating that characteristic vibrational modes of Si H bonds, as well as the operating conditions of distillation were also investigated as key factors for metal impurities removing. The advanced intensification of SiCl4 manufactured by the integration of photo microreactor and distillation achieves the products with superior specifications higher than the standard commercial products.