Template-free structuring of colloidal hetero-monolayers by inkjet printing and particle floating

Vogel N (2010)


Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2010

Journal

Publisher: ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY

Book Volume: 6

Pages Range: 2403-2412

Journal Issue: 11

DOI: 10.1039/c001306d

Abstract

Here we demonstrate the feasibility of a novel approach to simultaneously pattern surfaces with heterogeneous colloidal monolayers on various length scales from tens of mm down to nanometres by a combination of simple inkjet printing and nanosphere lithography. The process involves inkjet printing of different particle types in a pre-pattern with sparsely distributed particles on an initial substrate. After immersion in water the particles float off the substrate and self-assemble into a dense and hexagonally ordered colloidal monolayer, with a concomitant 1D contraction of the pre-pattern along the immersion direction. While nanosphere lithography yields the nanostructures, the superimposed mm scale pattern is defined by the inkjet printing process, leading to hexagonally ordered colloidal monolayers of various particles sizes or materials in parallel. Since the mu m pattern with arbitrary shape is simply designed on a computer and printed, the process does not require any customized template or mask to be fabricated. Due to its simplicity the computer-assisted method shows great potential for automatization, which should substantially improve structure quality and turn it into a technologically promising approach.

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How to cite

APA:

Vogel, N. (2010). Template-free structuring of colloidal hetero-monolayers by inkjet printing and particle floating. Soft Matter, 6(11), 2403-2412. https://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c001306d

MLA:

Vogel, Nicolas. "Template-free structuring of colloidal hetero-monolayers by inkjet printing and particle floating." Soft Matter 6.11 (2010): 2403-2412.

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