| Mass-Producible Nanotechnologies Using Polymer Nanoinjection Molding: Nanoparticle Assemblies, Nanoelectrodes, and Nanobiosensors (2009) | |||||||||||||||
Abstract | |||||||||||||||
| The objective of this research is the realization of mass-producible nanotechnologies, including nanoparticle assemblies, nanoelectrodes, and nanobiosensors. In order to achieve this goal, mass-producible nanofabrication methods were developed and fully characterized. The newly developed fabrication techniques were then applied for the realization of an electrochemical nanobiosensor that is combined with custom detection circuitry for ultra-sensitive detection of biomolecules. The foremost accomplishment of this work is the establishment of a new nanofabrication platform that couples the precision and throughput of polymer injection molding with the simplicity of template-driven assembly. High-throughput nanoinjection molding technology was developed, characterized, and applied for the fabrication of polymer substrates with nanostructured surfaces. Electron-beam lithography and metallization techniques were used for the development of a nanostructured mold, which was subsequently utilized to create negative polymer replicas by injection molding with cyclic olefin copolymers (COC). The nanostructured polymer chips were then used as templates for the patterning of nanomaterials using the newly developed nano-assembly technique of deposition with selective removal. Template-driven assembly of various sizes and types of nanoparticles was demonstrated in one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) patterns over large areas. Template dimensions such as width and depth were used to control the assembled nanoparticles, including quantity and type of nanoparticles in the assembly. The nanofabrication technique of deposition with selective removal using polymer templates was also used for the patterning of multiple types of metals for the formation of nanoelectrodes in both 1D and interdigitated array formats. The newly developed fabrication techniques were applied for the realization of an electrochemical nanobiosensor using nano interdigitated array (nIDA) electrodes on the polymer template. A hybrid detection circuit was custom-designed and implemented with the nIDA for amperometric detection of redox species poly-aminophenol (PAP). When compared with a micro interdigitated array (mIDA) biosensor, the nIDA biosensor showed improved current output and improved detection limit. The technologies developed in this work may have an immediate impact on commercial applications of nanotechnology due to the low-cost and high-throughput processing techniques that were generated and used. Additionally, the newly established nanofabrication platform may be useful for the assembly of a wide range of materials for numerous applications, including novel optical and electronic devices. | |||||||||||||||
Details der Publikation | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||