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Aqueous multiphoton lithography with multifunctional silk-centred bio-resists.
Yun-Lu Sun1, Qi Li2, Si-Ming Sun1
1State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering, Jilin University, 2699 Qianjin Street, Changchun 130012, China.
Nature Communications
|October 17, 2015
Summary
Researchers developed a novel method using femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW) to create intricate silk fibroin micro/nanostructures and silk/metal composite devices from aqueous solutions. This technique enables precise control over electrical conductivity for bioengineering applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Laser Processing
Background:
- Silk fibroin is a versatile natural biomaterial increasingly used in micro/nanodevices.
- Advanced micro/nanofabrication techniques are crucial for developing sophisticated bioengineering systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report, for the first time, aqueous multiphoton lithography of silk fibroin inks using femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW).
- To demonstrate the fabrication of silk/metal composite micro/nanodevices with controllable metal content.
Main Methods:
- Utilized noncontact and maskless femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW) on aqueous silk fibroin solutions.
- Employed photosensitizers for crosslinking silk fibroin into 2D/3D micro/nanostructures.
- Achieved simultaneous fibroin oxidation/crosslinking and metal photoreduction using silk/metal ion aqueous resists (e.g., silk/Ag+, silk/[AuCl4]-).
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated arbitrary 2D/3D silk fibroin micro/nanostructures with good elastic properties.
- Created silk/metal composite micro/nanodevices with multidimension-controllable metal content.
- Demonstrated a FsLDW-fabricated silk/Ag microelectrode with adjustable electric conductivity on the scale of 10^4 Ω⁻¹ m⁻¹.
Conclusions:
- This work advances silk micro/nanoprocessing techniques by introducing aqueous FsLDW.
- Presents a novel method for fabricating multifunctional metal/biomacromolecule complex micro/nanodevices.
- Highlights potential applications in micro/nanoscale mechanical and electrical bioengineering and biosystems.
