Poly(ethylene glycol) monolayer formation and stability on gold and silicon nitride substrates

Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are extensively used to modify substrates to prevent nonspecific protein adsorption and to increase hydrophilicity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, complemented by water contact angle measurements, is employed to investigate the formation and stability upon aging and heating of PEG monolayers formed on gold and silicon nitride substrates. In particular, thiolated PEG monolayers on gold, with and without the addition of an undecylic spacer chain, and PEG monolayers formed with oxysilane precursors on silicon nitride have been probed. It is found that PEG-thiol SAMs are degraded after less than two weeks of exposure to air and when heated at temperatures as low as 120 degrees C. On the contrary, PEG-silane SAMs are stable for more than two weeks, and fewer molecules are desorbed even after two months of aging, compared to those desorbed in two weeks from the PEG-thiol SAMs. A strongly bound hydration layer is found on PEG-silane SAMs aged for two months. Heating PEG-silane SAMs to temperatures as high as 160 degrees C improves the quality of the monolayer, desorbing weakly bound contaminants. The differences in stability between PEG-thiol SAMs and PEG-silane SAMs are ascribed to the different types of bonding to the surface and to the fact that the thiol-Au bond can be easily oxidized, thus causing desorption of PEG molecules from the surface.