title: Lipid membrane domains for the selective adsorption and surface patterning of conjugated polyelectrolytes.
abstract: Conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) are promising materials for generating optoelectronics devices under environmentally friendly processing conditions, but challenges remain to develop methods to define lateral features for improved junction interfaces and direct optoelectronic pathways. We describe here the potential to use a bottom-up approach that employs self-assembly in lipid membranes to form structures to template the selective adsorption of CPEs. Phase separation of gel phase anionic lipids and fluid phase phosphocholine lipids allowed the formation of negatively charged domain assemblies that selectively adsorb a cationic conjugated polyelectrolyte (P2). Spectroscopic studies found the adsorption of P2 to negatively charged membranes resulted in minimal structural change of the solution phase polymer but yielded an enhancement in fluorescence intensity (~50%) due to loss of quenching pathways. Fluorescence microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and AFM imaging were used to characterize the polymer-membrane interaction and the polymer-bound domain structures of the biphasic membranes. In addition to randomly formed circular gel phase domains, we also show that predefined features, such as straight lines, can be directed to form upon etched patterns on the substrate, thus providing potential routes toward the self-organization of optoelectronic architectures.
authors.affiliation: Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California 94550, USA. dysasak@sandia.gov
authors.forename: Darryl Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zawada
authors.forename: Sean F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Gilmore
authors.forename: Prihatha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Narasimmaraj
authors.forename: Mari Angelica A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.forename: Jeanne C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Stachowiak
authors.forename: Carl C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hayden
authors.forename: Hsing-Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Atul N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Parikh
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Shreve
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D011108:Polymers