Functional Surface Micro-Patterns by Dewetting of Polymer Thin Films

The dewetting of polymer thin films on solid substrates represents a versatile and robust process to produce surface micro-patterns with controlled topography and surface chemistry. In this work, we use complementary approaches to engineer both the ordering and the surface chemistry of the dewetting patterns. The produced micro-patterned surfaces could be used in biological applications requiring spatially localized features of controlled surface chemistry, e.g. proteomics, single cell studies and biosensors.

Spatially ordered dewetting patterns were obtained by two means: (i) by pre-stamping the substrates with micro-contact printing, to drive the dewetting of polystyrene thin films within specific regions of the substrate (Figure 1a);¹ and (ii) by using two-dimensional colloidal crystals as patterning templates (Figure 1b). Surface patterns obtained by dewetting of polymer thin films were employed to control the positioning of proteins on the micro scale, by selective adsorption of proteins on specific regions of the substrate (Figure 1c).² The simplicity of the surface patterning and functionalization approaches gives rise to possible applications in cell co-cultures for tissue engineering.