The
stability of the film poly(
n
-butyl methacrylate)
(PnBMA) with different tacticities, prepared on silicon oxide and
exposed to aqueous phosphate-buffered saline with different concentrations
of bovine serum albumin (
C
BSA
between
0 and 4.5 mg/mL), was examined at temperatures close to the physiological
limit (between 4 and 37 °C) with optical microscopy, contact
angle measurements, atomic force microscopy, and time-of-flight secondary
ion mass spectrometry. For PBS solutions with
C
BSA
= 0, the stability of atactic PnBMA and dewetting of isotactic
PnBMA was observed, caused by the interplay between the stabilizing
long-range dispersion forces and the destabilizing short-range polar
interactions. Analogous considerations of excess free energy cannot
explain the retardation of dewetting observed for isotactic PnBMA
in PBS solutions with higher
C
BSA
. Instead,
formation of a BSA overlayer, adsorbed preferentially but not exclusively
to uncovered SiO
x
regions, is evidenced
and postulated to hinder polymer dewetting. Polymer dewetting and
protein patterning are obtained in one step, suggesting a simple approach
to fabricate biomaterials with micropatterned proteins.