Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help

O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 33: Nanostructures at surfaces: arrays

O 33.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 15:00–15:15, H31

Fabrication of protein patterns by electron-beam writing in a protein-repelling matrix — Nirmalya Ballav¹, Heidi Thomas², Tobias Winkler², Andreas Terfort², and •Michael Zharnikov¹ — ¹Angewandte Physikalische Chemie, Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany — ²Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany

One of the challenges of nanotechnology is the development of reliable, efficient, and flexible methods for the fabrication of protein patterns. An essential element of almost all available approaches is a protein-repelling "background" matrix, surrounding the active protein-adsorbing areas - the matrix prevents adsorption of proteins beyond these areas. Such a matrix is usually comprised of oligo- or poly(ethylene glycol)-based materials and is generally prepared by a backfilling procedure after the fabrication of the protein-attracting patterns. We present an alternative approach, showing that the protein-repelling matrix, both SAM- and polymer-like, can be used as a primary template for direct electron-beam writing of both non-specific and specific protein patterns of any desirable shape, including gradient ones, on a flexible length scale. The above factors make the approach quite versatile, which is additionally strengthened by intrinsic flexibility of electron-beam lithography, a wide range of suitable electron energies, broad availability of commercial oligoethylene glycol compounds, variable substrate material, and flexible choice of the target proteins. Complex gradient patterns fabricated by the approach can become an important tool for mimicking natural biological interfaces.