The integration of top-down (lithographic) and bottom-up (synthetic chemical) methodologies remains a major goal in nanoscience. At larger length scales, light-directed chemical synthesis, first reported two decades ago, provides a model for this integration, by combining the spatial selectivity of photolithography with the synthetic utility of photochemistry. Work in our laboratory has sought to realise a similar integration at the nanoscale, by employing near-field optical probes to initiate selective chemical transformations in regions a few tens of nm in size. A combination of near-field exposure and an ultra-thin resist yields exceptional performance: in self-assembled monolayers, an ultimate resolution of 9 nm (ca. l/30) has been achieved. A wide range of methodologies, based on monolayers of thiols, silanes and phosphonic acids, and thin films of nanoparticles and polymers, have been developed for use on metal and oxide surfaces, enabling the fabrication of metal nanowires, nanostructured polymers and nanopatterned oligonucleotides and proteins. Strategies based upon the use of nitrophenyl-based photocleavable protecting groups have enabled the introduction of synthetic chemical methodology into nanofabrication. Nanoscale control of chemistry over macroscopic areas remains an important challenge. Recently parallel near-field lithography approaches have demonstrated the capacity to pattern macroscopic areas at high resolution, yielding feature sizes of ca. 100 nm over an area four orders of magnitude larger; they have also demonstrated the ability to function under fluid, yielding feature sizes of ca. 70 nm in photoresist under water and suggesting exciting possibilities for surface chemistry at the nanoscale. Finally, the monolayer patterning methods we have developed are by no means restricted to near-field lithography; all that is required is a suitable means of confining the optical excitation. For example, SAM photochemistry has been combined with interferometric exposure to facilitate the fabrication of periodic nanostructures over macroscopic areas in fast, simple, inexpensive processes, underlining the versatility of photochemistry as a nanofabrication tool.

[Introduction] We previously proposed oxide-semiconductor-based sensitized solar cells, in which polymer multiple quantum dots (MQDs) are utilized for sensitizing layers, and fabricated the polymer MQDs on glass substrates by Molecular Layer Deposition (MLD) [1]. In the present study, we grew polymer MQDs on TiO₂ by MLD. The polymer MQD growth on TiO₂ was confirmed by photoluminescence (PL) spectra.

[ Proposed Solar Cells S ensitized by Polymer MQDs] The proposed sensitized solar cell consists of an oxide semiconductor layer and polymer MQDs on the surface. The polymer MQD contains different-length quantum dots (QDs) in the backbone wire, and consequently, a wide absorption band is obtained by superposition of narrow absorption bands of the individual QDs. This spectral division with the narrow bands can reduce the energy loss arising from the heat generation due to excess photon energy in light absorption processes.

[Absorption/Photoluminescence Spectra of Polymer MQDs ] Reference samples of poly-azomethine (AM) and polymer MQDs: OTPTPT, OTPT, and OT were grown on glass substrates by connecting terephthalaldehyde (TPA), p-phenylenediamine (PPDA), and oxalic dihydrazide (ODH) with designated orders using MLD. The QD lengths in OTPTPT, OTPT and OT are respectively ~3, ~2 and ~0.8 nm. With decreasing the QD length, while the absorption peak shifts to high-energy side due to the quantum confinement, the PL peak shifts to low-energy side due to the Stokes shift. Namely, in the order of poly-AM to OT, the electrons become highly localized to increase the surrounding atoms’ displacement caused by the electron transitions, resulting in the Stokes shift enhancement.

[Growth of Polymer MQDs on TiO₂] We performed MLD to grow poly-AM on ZnO and TiO₂ powder layers. A yellow film of poly-AM was observed on TiO₂. For ZnO, however, no film growth was observed because of weak hydrophilic characteristics of ZnO surfaces. We grew poly-AM and polymer MQDs of TO on the TiO₂ powder layers by MLD, and measured their PL spectra. The PL spectrum of TO was located at lower-energy side than that of poly-AM, which is parallel to the tendency observed in the PL spectra of the reference samples. From this result, it is concluded that polymer MQDs can be grown on TiO₂ by MLD as the sensitizing layers for solar cells.

Click chemistry reactions have opened new horizons in the field of surface chemistry, as these reactions are ease to perform on surfaces. A nice example is the addition of thiol moieties onto C=C bonds, which have been shown to be highly efficient, orthogonal to many other reactions, highly selective, etc. Recently we and others have shown that thiol-ene click reactions can be used efficiently for the modification of semiconductor surfaces and nanoparticles with a wide range of materials. In the current presentation we show an improved procedure involving C≡C bonds, i.e. thiol-yne click reactions.

We modified oxide-free Si(111) surfaces with alkene-terminated and alkyne-terminated monolayers, and these surfaces were further modified with various thiols such as thioglycolic acid, thioacetic acid, thioglycerol, thio-β-D-glucose tetraacetate lactose and 9-flurenylmethoxy-carbonyl cysteine by using thiol-ene and thiol-yne click reactions. Upon detailed surface analysis it was found that after some optimization the thiol-yne click reaction yielded 20 – 80 % more surface coverage compared to thiol-ene click reactions. Thus surface modification with thiol-yne click reactions promise to be the next step in surface-bound thiol click chemistry.

References:

1. Campos, M. A. C.; Paulusse, J. M. J.; Zuilhof, H., Functional monolayers on oxide- free silicon surfaces via thiol-ene click chemistry. Chem. Commun. 2010, 46 (30), 5512-5514.

2. Lowe, A. B.; Hoyle, C. E.; Bowman, C. N., Thiol-yne click chemistry: A powerful and versatile methodology for materials synthesis. J. Mater. Chem. 2010, 20 (23), 4745- 4750.

3. Ruizendaal, L.; Pujari, S. P.; Gevaerts, V.; Paulusse, J. M. J.; Zuilhof, H., Biofunctional Silicon Nanoparticles by Means of Thiol-Ene Click Chemistry. Chem. Asian J. 2011, 6 (10), 2776-2786.

4. Wendeln, C.; Ravoo, B. J., Surface Patterning by Microcontact Chemistry. Langmuir 2012, 28 (13), 5527-5538.

5. Wendeln, C.; Rinnen, S.; Schulz, C.; Arlinghaus, H. F.; Ravoo, B. J., Photochemical Microcontact Printing by Thiol−Ene and Thiol−Yne Click Chemistry. Langmuir 2010, 26 (20), 15966-15971.

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The current aim of our research is to create robust hydrophobic thin films, for glass/silicon substrates, which can withstand extreme pH conditions and temperatures, have good release properties, and at the same time are mechanically durable. This approach consists of deposition of 3-aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APTES) on a silicon substrate followed by layer-by-layer deposition and cross-linking of alternating layers of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH). These nylon-like cross-linked layers have already been demonstrated to possess stability in extreme pH conditions. Their permeability can be controlled by the extent of crosslinking, which depends on the time and temperature of crosslinking. A careful study using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in our lab showed 71% cross-linking when these assemblies were heated at 250 °C for 2 h. We also found that the ratio of ammonium to amine groups in these bilayers is 2:1, and that there is a potential to impart additional properties to the films by utilizing these residual amine groups. This was part of an experimental design over a series of times and temperatures.These substrates can further be modified using a variety of chemistries. One approach is to expose these substrates to basic NaOH solution (pH ~ 10) in order to deprotonate the ammonium groups of the terminal PAH layer followed by treatment with Traut’s reagent to convert amine groups into thiol groups. The thiol groups are then reacted with 1,2-polybutadiene and a perfluoroalkanethiol using thiol-ene chemistry. Another approach is to use hydrolyzed poly(maleic anhydride alt 1-octadecene) as a terminal electrostatic anionic layer. A chemical and tribological stability comparison will be performed between the above prepared films and a perfluoroalkane silane film on Si substrates. The effect of the total thickness of cross-linked PAH-PAA bilayers on the stability of prepared films will be studied. The substrates are thoroughly analyzed at each surface modification step using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, ellipsometry, water contact angles, and atomic force microscopy.

Physical adsorption (solid –liquid interface) is known as a simple and rapid option to immobilize biomolecules on various surfaces. Proteins, receptors and antibodies are attached via physisorption to different surfaces by various attachment protocols. However, physical adsorption has been often labeled in the past with disadvantages like variability, reversibility and low surface density of immobilized biomolecules. In contrast, the presented research demonstrates that spray deposition with a pneumatic nebulizer can be used to immobilize fully functional and stable physisorbed antibody coatings on glass surfaces with high reproducibility.

The experiments were performed using a low flow concentric nebulizer (commonly used on mass spectrometry), regular glass slides as a substrate and E. coli O157:H7 antibody as prototypical test system. The antibody films were examined for functionality, specificity and shelf life. A series of films with varying thickness and deposition conditions was characterized with respect to functionality, mechanical stability, surface morphology and antibody density. The results demonstrate that the films are comparable to films prepared with the standard covalent attachment protocol (avidin-biotin). They show low denaturation or conformational changes, minimal loss during the rinsing process suggesting good attachment to the surface, and they perform as well with regard to sensitivity, specificity and shelf-life. The morphology studies suggest that the non-oriented attachment of the spray deposited antibodies (compared to the oriented attachment achieved with the covalent attachment scheme) is compensated by a higher antibody density enabled by the non-equilibrium spray deposition process.