Fabrication of oriented wrinkles on polydopamine/polystyrene bilayer films

Wrinkles exist widely in nature and our life. In this paper, wrinkles on polydopamine (PDA)/polystyrene (PS) bilayer films were formed by thermal annealing due to the different thermal coefficients of expansion of each layer. The factors that influenced the dimensions of wrinkles were studied. We found that oriented wrinkles could be formed if the bilayer films were patterned with micro-grooves, and the degree of the orientation depended on the thickness of the PDA and the dimensions of the grooves. Combined with the strong adhesion, biocompatibility and reactivity of PDA, the oriented wrinkles on PDA/PS patterned bilayers may find potential application in diffraction gratings, optical sensors and microfluidic devices.