Direct stabilization of a phospholipid monolayer on H-terminated silicon

This Article describes a strategy to stabilize a phospholipid monolayer directly on the surface of a H-terminated silicon substrate in order to provide a useful platform for silicon based biosensors. The stabilization of an acrylated phospholipid monolayer is obtained by two-dimensional chain polymerization. As the formation of the lipid monolayer in aqueous solution competes with the oxidation of the silicon surface, several cycles of oxide removal and lipid exposure are necessary to densify the lipid layer. Lipid monolayer formation is followed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The resulting monolayer is denser than corresponding alkyl monolayers formed on H-terminated silicon via photochemical or thermally initiated reactions.