Large scale lithography-free nano channel array on polystyrene

This paper reports a new fabrication method of lithography-free nanochannel array. It is based on the cracking process on the surface of a polystyrene (PS) Petri-dish, one type of thermoplastic that is composed of uni-axial macromolecular chains. Under proper conditions, parallel nanochannels with equal interspaces are obtained. Control over the channel depth from 20 nm to 200 nm is achieved, with the channel length reaching tens of millimetres. The PDMS replication based on PS nanochannel array has been successfully carried out. In combination with the microstructure, both an ion enrichment device and a current rectification device are fabricated, and their quantified characters manifested the applicability of the channel array structure in nanofluidics.