Fabrication of Controlled Thermosensitive Polymer Nanopatterns with One‐Pot Polymerization Through Chemical Lithography

Abstract

Brushing up: Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) micro‐ and nanostructures can be grown on a gold substrate by grafting the polymer brush from an initiator‐coated surface. The dependence of the brush height on the density of the initiator (controlled by the electron‐beam doses) allows spatially defined polymer patterns with varying heights and unique surface topographies (see image) to be created in a single step.

In Situ Characterization of Thermo‐Responsive Poly(N‐Isopropylacrylamide) Films with Sum‐Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

“…The grafting density is determined by the surface density of amino group and of initiators after BIBB treatment and is assumed to be approximately 10 13 -10 14 molecules cm À2 . [36] The thickness of the films used in this study was determined in the dry state with ellipsometry to be about 10 nm. The spin-coated samples were coated with pNIPAM purchased from Sigma-Aldrich on the same gold-coated wafers following the cleaning procedure.…”

Fabrications and Applications of Stimulus-Responsive Polymer Films and Patterns on Surfaces: A Review

“…Moreover, a defined grafting-density gradient was prepared and controlled by electron-beam chemical lithography (EBCL). Structures with fine control of the shape, size, position, and thickness of PNIPAAm patterns were elaborated by He et al [129]. The authors highlighted a way to control the surface topography by varying the electron dosage and polymerization conditions.…”

Engineered Polymer Brushes by Carbon Templating

“…[7] Besides pattern formation, electron irradiation also stabilizes the SAM via lateral cross-linking [8] and induces a chemical contrast (chemical lithography, CL). [9] CL of SAMs and consecutive SIP by free [10][11][12] or controlled [13,14] radical polymerization results in polymer brushes with controllable shapes on the micro-and nanometer scale.…”