Fabrication of polypyrrole-based nanoelectrode arrays by colloidal lithography

This paper describes a novel technique to produce polypyrrole-based nanoelectrodes for electrochemical detection purpose. The fabrication process relies on the creation of patterned nanotemplates i.e., nanometric gold spots surrounded by an electrically insulating material (SiO(x)). From these templates, polypyrrole nanopillars are grown by classical electrochemical methods. Atomic force microscopy demonstrates that polypyrrole grows selectively inside the gold nanotemplates. The electrochemical characterization by cyclic voltammetry showed a sigmoidal-shaped voltammogram characterizing the typical nanoelectrode array behavior.