Fabrication of Thickness-Controllable Micropatterned Polyelectrolyte-Film/Nanoparticle Surfaces by Using the Plasma Oxidation Method

We have demonstrated a novel way to form thickness-controllable polyelectrolyte-film/nanoparticle patterns by using a plasma etching technique to form, first, a patterned self-assembled monolayer surface, followed by layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolyte-films/nanoparticles. Octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODS) and (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were used for polyelectrolyte-film and nanoparticle patterning, respectively. The resolution of the proposed patterning method can easily reach approximately 2.5 μm. The height of the groove structure was tunable from approximately 2.5 to 150 nm. The suspended lipid membrane across the grooves was fabricated by incubating the patterned polyelectrolyte groove arrays in solutions of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). The method demonstrated here reveals a new path to create patterned 2D or 3D structures.