Abstract
We report the formation of breath-figure (BF) patterns with amino-functionalized cavities in a BF incompatible polystyrene (PS) by incorporating functionalized alumina nanoparticles. The particles were amphiphilic-modified and the modifier ratio was regulated to achieve a specific hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of the particles. The influence of the physical and chemical properties of the particles like particle concentration, the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance, etc., on particle dispersion in solvents having different polarity and the corresponding changes in the BF patterns have been studied. The amphiphilic-modified alumina particles could successfully assist the BF mechanism, generating uniform patterns in polystyrene films with the cavity walls decorated with the functionalized alumina particles, even from water-miscible solvents like THF. The possibility of fabricating free-standing micropatterned films by casting and drying the suspension under ambient conditions was also demonstrated. The present method opens up a simple route for producing functionalized BF cavities, which can be post-modified by a chemical route for various biological applications.
Highlights
Micropatterned polymer surfaces with functionalized cavities have been of great research interest during the past decade due to their potential use in several advanced applications.[1,2,3,4,5] the fabrication of materials having specific surface functionalities with a controlled distribution is a challenging field of research
We report the formation of BF patterns with amino-functionalized cavities from a BF incompatible PS by incorporating amphiphilic-modified alumina nanoparticles
Alumina particles used were nearly spherical in shape and showed strong crystalline peaks in XRD (ESI†)
Summary
Micropatterned polymer surfaces with functionalized cavities have been of great research interest during the past decade due to their potential use in several advanced applications.[1,2,3,4,5] the fabrication of materials having specific surface functionalities with a controlled distribution is a challenging field of research. The in situ generation process has been gaining more attention since it avoids the difficulty in the ex situ approach due to the involvement of a multi-step process and the complexity of chemical reactions. The breath-figure (BF) technique, a facile dynamic templating method wherein self-organization of water droplets is exploited
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