Surface modification of elastomeric stamps for microcontact printing of polar inks.

Chemical modification of the surface of a stamp used for microcontact printing (microCP) is interesting for controling the surface properties, such as the hydrophilicity. To print polar inks, plasma polymerization of allylamine (PPAA) was employed to render the surface of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), polyolefin plastomers (POP), and Kraton elatomeric stamps hydrophilic for long periods of time. A thin PPAA film of about 5 nm was deposited on the stamps, which increased the hydrophilicity, and which remained stable for at least several months. These surface-modified stamps were used to transfer polar inks by microCP. The employed microCP schemes are as follows: (a) a second generation of dendritic ink having eight dialkyl sulfide end groups to fabricate patterns on gold substrates by positive microCP, (b) fluorescent guest molecules on beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) printboards on glass employing host-guest recognition, and (c) Lucifer Yellow ethylenediamine resulting in covalent patterning on an aldehyde-terminated glass surface. All experiments resulted in an excellent performance of all three PPAA-coated stamp materials to transfer the polar inks from the stamp surface to gold and glass substrates by microCP, even from aqueous solutions.