NOVELTY - Producing a grip- and abrasion-resistant layer having a gettering effect on silicon wafers, comprises printing a gettering medium in the form of an oxide medium on a surface of the silicon wafers, where the medium is prepared by condensation and controlled gelation of two-to four-fold symmetrically/asymmetrically substituted alkoxysilanes and alkoxyalkylsilanes, which comprise saturated, unsaturated, branched, unbranched, aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic radicals, with (a) symmetric and asymmetric organic and mixed organic-inorganic carboxylic anhydrides, and/or (b) strong carboxylic acids.    USE - The method is useful for producing a grip- and abrasion-resistant layer having a gettering effect on silicon wafers using a gettering medium in the form of a printable oxide medium, where the silicon wafers are useful in photovoltaic, microelectronics, micro-mechanical and micro-optical applications, and passivated emitter rear cell-, passivated emitter, rear locally-diffused-, passivated emitter rear totally diffused-, and interdigitated back contact-solar cells, where the solar cells include other architectural features, a metal wrap through solar cell, an emitter-wrap-through solar cell, a selective emitter, a selective front surface field, and a selective back surface field (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The method is capable of simply and economically producing the grip- and abrasion-resistant layer. The gettering medium increases the efficiency and durability of the solar cell, and produces the diffusion barriers during the machining processes of silicon wafers.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Producing a grip- and abrasion-resistant layer having a gettering effect on silicon wafers, comprises printing a gettering medium in the form of an oxide medium on a surface of the silicon wafers, where the gettering medium is prepared by condensation and controlled gelation of two-to four-fold symmetrically and/or asymmetrically substituted alkoxysilanes and alkoxyalkylsilanes, which comprise saturated, unsaturated, branched, unbranched, aliphatic, alicyclic and aromatic radicals, with (a) symmetric and asymmetric organic and mixed organic-inorganic carboxylic anhydrides, and/or (b) strong carboxylic acids and by controlled gelation of low to high viscosity oxide medium. The printed medium is compressed at a temperature of 50-800 degrees C, preferably 50-500 degrees C by one or several annealing steps (annealing by a step function), and/or an annealing ramp, and then the temperature, optionally after increasing, of 500-800 degrees C, preferably 600-750 degrees C is maintained for few seconds to one minute to form the grip- and abrasion resistant layer having a thickness of up to 500 nm. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for the gettering medium in the form of the printable oxide medium produced in the method, which is a binary or ternary system comprising silicon dioxide-aluminum oxide and/or mixtures of higher level, which results from the use of alcoholates/esters, acetates, and/or hydroxides or oxides of aluminum, germanium, zinc, tin, titanium, zirconium or lead during the production of the medium.