This comprehensive overview of block copolymer micelle nanolithography (BCMN) will discuss the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticle arrays by means of micellar diblock copolymer approach and the resulting experimental control of individual structural parameters of the nanopattern, e.g., particle density and particle size. Furthermore, the authors will present a combinational approach of BCMN with conventional fabrication methods, namely, photolithography and electron beam lithography, which combines the advantages of high-resolution micronanopatterning with fast sample processing rates. In addition, the authors will demonstrate how these nanoparticle assemblies can be transferred to polymer substrates with a wide range of elasticity. In the second part of this report the authors will introduce some of the most intriguing applications of BCMN in biology and materials science: The authors will demonstrate how nanoparticle arrays may be used as anchor points to pattern functional proteins with single molecule resolution for studying cellular adhesion and present a technological roadmap to high-performance nanomaterials by highlighting recent applications for biomimetic optics and nanowires.

The motion of a solid-liquid-liquid contact line over nanorough surfaces is investigated. The surface nanodefects are varied in size, density, and shape. The dynamics of the three-phase contact line on all nanorough substrates studied is thermally activated. However, unlike the motion of a liquid-vapor interface over smooth surfaces, this thermally activated process is not adequately described by the molecular kinetic theory. The molecular parameters extracted from the experiments suggest that on the nanorough surfaces, the motion of the contact line is unlikely to simply consist of molecular adsorption-desorption steps. Thermally activated pinning-depinning events on the surface nanodefects are also important. We investigate the effect of surface nanotopography on the relative importance of these two mechanisms in governing contact line motion. Using a derivation for the hysteresis energy based on Joanny and de Gennes's model, we evaluate the effect of nanotopographical features on the wetting activation free energy and contact line friction. Our results suggest that both solid-liquid interactions and surface pinning strength contribute to the energy barriers hindering the three-phase contact line motion. For relatively low nanodefect densities, the activation free energy of wetting can be expressed as a sum of surface wettability and surface topography contributions, thus providing a direct link between contact line dynamics and roughness parameters.

In nature, optical structures in the subwavelength range have been evolved over millions of years. For example, in the form of ‘moth-eye’ structures they show a strong antireflective effect on the compound eyes of night-active insects and therefore offer a successful protection over predators. In this contribution the advantages and challenges to transfer this natural concept of subwavelength structured optical interfaces to high-end optical systems are discussed. Here, in comparison to alternative conventional multilayer systems, the bioinspired antireflective structures offer a wide wavelength range and a broad angle dependency. Additionally, adhesion problems are reduced drastically. Simultaneously to the theoretical consideration of the best profile form of the subwavelength structures, appropriate realization technologies have been developed in recent years, where both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been investigated. Depending on the choice of the structuring technique, anti-reflective subwavelength structures are applicable to a wide spectrum of optical elements ranging from micro-optical components to aspheres for applications in imaging and also illumination setups of high-end optical instruments

Antireflective surfaces composed of biomimetic sub-wavelength structures that employ the 'moth eye principle' for reflectance reduction are highly desirable in many optical applications such as solar cells, photodetectors and laser optics. We report an efficient approach for the fabrication of antireflective surfaces based on a two-step process consisting of gold nanoparticle mask generation by micellar block copolymer nanolithography and a multi-step reactive ion etching process. Depending on the RIE process parameters nanostructured surfaces with tailored antireflective properties can easily be fabricated that show optimum performance for specific applications.