Abstract
Photolithography is a unique process that can effectively manufacture micro/nano-sized patterns on various substrates. On the other hand, the meniscus-dragging deposition (MDD) process can produce a uniform surface of the substrate. Graphene oxide (GO) is the oxidized form of graphene that has high hydrophilicity and protein absorption. It is widely used in biomedical fields such as drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. Herein, we fabricated uniform GO micropatterns via MDD and photolithography. The physicochemical properties of the GO micropatterns were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, cell migration on the GO micropatterns was investigated, and the difference in cell migration on triangle and square GO micropatterns was examined for their effects on cell migration. Our results demonstrated that the GO micropatterns with a desired shape can be finely fabricated via MDD and photolithography. Moreover, it was revealed that the shape of GO micropatterns plays a crucial role in cell migration distance, speed, and directionality. Therefore, our findings suggest that the GO micropatterns can serve as a promising biofunctional platform and cell-guiding substrate for applications to bioelectric devices, cell-on-a-chip, and tissue engineering scaffolds.
Highlights
Photolithography is a unique process that can facilitate the manufacturing of micro-sized patterns on various substrates
The meniscus-dragging deposition (MDD) technique can develop highly uniform Graphene oxide (GO) films on substrates by dragging the meniscus of a GO suspension trapped between a deposition plate and a coating substrate in an alternating back-and-forth motion [11–14]
The topography of the GO-coated slide glass using the MDD method was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM, NX10, Park Systems Co., Suwon, Korea) in air at room temperature (RT)
Summary
Photolithography is a unique process that can facilitate the manufacturing of micro-sized patterns on various substrates. Recent research has shown that GO can enhance cellular behaviors including attachment, proliferation, and differentiation due to various functional groups on its surface that can promote cellular behaviors through interactions with cells [7–10] Based on this reason, it is inferred that GO-coated substrates can induce aligned array of cells. GO-coated substrates can be fabricated by various coating techniques, including filtration/transfer-based film formation, spin coating, air-spraying, dip coating, Langmuir–Blodgett deposition, and wire-wound rod coating, for electrical devices and medical applications. Some of these methods produce relatively non-uniform thin films because of the aggregation of GO particles. The difference in cell migration according to the pattern shape was investigated to explore the potential of GO micropatterns as a biofunctional platform for bioelectric devices and tissue engineering applications
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