Visible-Light-Assisted Donor–Acceptor-Stenhouse-Adduct-Based Reversible Photoswitching on a Laser-Structurable OrmoComp Substrate

Abstract

Laser-assisted nanolithography of commercially available photoresists is offering a limitless designing opportunity in the micro- and nanostructuring of 3D organotypic cell culture scaffolds. Among them, chemically functionalized OrmoComp has shown promising improvement in cell adhesion that paves the way to assemble cellular entities on a desirable geometry. Establishing a photoswitchable chemistry on the OrmoComp surface may offer an additional degree of freedom to manipulate the surface chemistry locally and selectively. We have established the methods for functionalization of the photopolymerized OrmoComp surface with visible-light-switchable donor–acceptor Stenhouse adducts. Unlike other polymers, a photopolymerized OrmoComp surface appears to be optimal for reversible photothermal switching, offering the possibility to influence surface properties like absorption and hydrophilicity tremendously. Light-assisted chemical modulation between colored triene-2-ol and colorless cyclopentenone can be achieved to a size region as narrow as 20 μm. Thermal reversion to the original triene-2-ol state can be analyzed spectroscopically and observed with the naked eye.