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Updated: Mar 12, 2026
Fabricating Complex Culture Substrates Using Robotic Microcontact Printing R- µCP and Sequential Nucleophilic Substitution
Published on: October 31, 2014
Preparation of Functional Alternating Polymer Brushes and Their Orthogonal Surface Modification through Microcontact
Moritz Buhl1, Matthias Tesch1, Sebastian Lamping1
1Organisch-Chemisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstraße 40, 48149, Münster, Germany.
Abstract:
This paper reports microcontact printing (μCP) to immobilize an alkoxyamine initiator (regulator) on glass and silicon substrates and subsequent surface-initiated alternating nitroxide-mediated copolymerization (siNMP) of hexafluoroisopropyl acrylate (HFIPA) and 7-octenylvinyl ether (OVE). The resulting patterned polymer brushes are analyzed by using atomic force microscopy (AFM). In addition, site-specific post-functionalization of the alternating polymer brushes by applying two orthogonal surface reactions is achieved with thiols and amines through μCP. The versatility of this post-polymerization modification approach is demonstrated by site-selective immobilization of small organic molecules, fluorophores, and ligands providing a binary bioactive surface. The successful side-by-side orthogonal immobilization is verified by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and fluorescence microscopy.
