Ink dependence of poly(dimethylsiloxane) contamination in microcontact printing.
Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is the most widely used stamp material in microcontact printing. It has excellent properties with respect to versatility, chemical inertness, and mechanical stability. However, it has an inclination to contaminate printed substrates with low molecular weight siloxane fragments. In this study, it is shown, by a combination of lateral force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, that the extent of the PDMS-induced contamination is dependent on the nature of the ink used. The highest degree of contamination was found for relatively polar inks, whereas apolar alkanethiol inks were found to shield the substrate from contamination. This is interpreted in terms of the contaminating species being polar in nature.
Sharpe
Ruben B A
RB
MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology and Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
Burdinski
Dirk
D
van der Marel
Cees
C
Jansen
Jan A J
JA
Huskens
Jurriaan
J
Zandvliet
Harold J W
HJ
Reinhoudt
David N
DN
Poelsema
Bene
B