Laser‐Assisted Tailoring of Surface Wettability ‐ Fundamentals and Applications

Optically trapped SiO2@Au particle-dye hybrid-based SERS detection of Hg2+ ions

“…2 However, the enhanced Raman signal in proximity to the plasmonic nanostructures in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has made a great renaissance in the field because the technique can be detected at the single-molecule level. [3][4][5][6][7] The SERS studies of liquid samples are often carried out by depositing the analyte solution onto the plasmonic substrates that often suffer from the coffee ring effect. 8,9 The use of superhydrophobic and slippery surfaces has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate the coffee ring effect, 10,11 but the measurements inside the liquid sample to prove the environmental changes remain a challenge.…”

Non-adhesive contrast substrate for single-cell trapping and Raman spectroscopic analysis

“…[17][18][19] A lotus-leaf-inspired hierarchically structured superhydrophobic surface is normally characterized by the beading up of a water droplet and subsequent rolling off due to low adhesion and friction, and this is normally explained based on an entrapped air plastron and the Cassie-Baxter model. 20 Meanwhile, hydrogen bonds mediate efficient adhesive interaction with the substrate and are used to explain superhydrophilic surfaces (SHL). A few previous publications already exploited the SHB/SHL contrast to create a microliter droplet assay and to trap single cells.…”

“…15 Very recently, much interest has arisen to exploit the water-loving (superhydrophilic) or hating (superhydrophobic) nature of surfaces to create droplets of the picoliter to nanoliter scale, or even to the femtoliter scale. 16 The advantages of working with smaller volumes include (1) the consumption of fewer consumables and samples/reagents, which translates into cost-saving, (2) parallel processing of samples which saves time, (3) generation of more and better quality data and (4) reduction of space requirements.…”

“…A few previous publications already exploited the SHB/SHL contrast to create a microliter droplet assay and to trap single cells. 16 By creating a superhydrophobic part via etching using a HF/AgNO 3 solution followed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with PFDTS (1 H ,1 H ,2 H ,2 H -perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane) onto a silicon wafer and a superhydrophilic region by selective UV irradiation, Song et al demonstrated single-cell trapping. 21 In a very interesting work, Levkin and his co-workers created superhydrophobic–superhydrophilic micropatterns on nanoporous polymer films for the droplet splitting and high throughput screening of live cells.…”