Surface characterization of ordered nanopatterns made from self-assembly of mixed nanoparticles

TL;DRAbstract

Controlled patterning of surfaces with different chemistries and structures at nanoscale length scales is highly desirable for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of protein and cell interactions with biomaterials. The use of nanoparticles (NPs) to pattern surfaces by colloidal lithography or templating using one type of NP is well known for applications such as biosensors, biomaterials and tissue engineering. We demonstrate that by using mixed nanoparticles unique highly-ordered patterns can be obtained by simple self-assembly from buffer onto hydrophobic surfaces from both concentrated and dilute two-component NP suspensions.4 The new method uses suspensions of poly(styrene) (PS) NPs of different size (d = 500 to 60nm) with different NP ratios and volume fractions. The ordering is independent of the NP surface chemistry (sulfated, carboxylated, or aminated PS) or zeta potential and occurs over a broad pH range (4-10). The method is demonstrated for two types of hydrophobic surfa

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