Nanostructuring by electronanopatterning and colloidal templating

Nanostructuring involves the application of materials and processing methods to achieve unique dimensional structures at the nanoscale. To this respect, a number of strategies have been developed by our group to achieve patterned materials based on electropolymerization and electrodeposition. In particular, we have used the precursor polymer approach and the electronanopatterning method using conducting AFM. Recently, a number of strategies have been based on colloidally templated arrays. The fabrication scheme combines the LB-like technique and electropolymerization process called colloidal template-assisted electropolymerization or template-directed electrosynthesis followed by particle removal. The process is done under ambient conditions pivotal to further surface alteration of the unmodified areas including: layer-by-layer assembly, self-assembled monolayer, growth of polymer brush, and another electrodeposition. In this study, the modification of the unpatterned surface is elaborated through the use of self-assembled monolayers (SAM)s which can then undergo a variety of chemistries or polymerization protocols. Until now, colloidal template 2D electropolymerization remains largely an unexplored method, and there are only a few accounts on colloidal template electropolymerization technique for micropatterning polymer films. The same technique is amenable for making highly ordered macroporous structures by electrodeposition of metals (e.g. gold, platinum, nickel, palladium, and cobalt) and metal oxides (e.g. iridium oxide, zinc oxide) in between the void spaces of the sacrificial template colloidal particles.