Two-Photon Laser Microprinting of Highly Ordered Nanoporous Materials Based on Hexagonal Columnar Liquid Crystals

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Supramolecular liquid crystals (LCs) offer potential for size- and charge-selective nanoporous membranes.
• Manufacturing these materials using printing technologies has not been previously explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel method for fabricating ordered nanoporous microstructures using supramolecular LCs.
• To investigate the feasibility of using two-photon laser printing for creating these structures.

Main Methods:

• Utilized photo-cross-linkable hydrogen-bonded complexes that self-assemble into columnar hexagonal (Col_h) mesophases.
• Incorporated photopolymerizable groups for laser printability, creating a printable photoresist.
• Employed two-photon laser printing to fabricate ordered nanoporous microstructures.

Main Results:

• Successfully demonstrated the printability of supramolecular LC-based photoresist using two-photon laser printing.
• Confirmed the conservation of the Col_h arrangement after laser microprinting.
• Showcased the retention of adsorptive properties in the printed nanoporous materials.

Conclusions:

• This work presents the first example of printable columnar hexagonal (Col_h) liquid crystals.
• The developed approach enables the fabrication of functional nanoporous structures with defined geometries.
• Opens new avenues for creating microdevices for catalysis, filtration, separation, and molecular recognition.