title: A superhydrophobic chip based on SU-8 photoresist pillars suspended on a silicon nitride membrane.
abstract: We developed a new generation of superhydrophobic chips optimized for probing ultrasmall sample quantities by X-ray scattering and fluorescence techniques. The chips are based on thin Si3N4 membranes with a tailored pattern of SU-8 photoresist pillars. Indeed, aqueous solution droplets can be evaporated and concentrated at predefined positions using a non-periodic pillar pattern. We demonstrated quantitatively the deposition and aggregation of gold glyconanoparticles from the evaporation of a nanomolar droplet in a small spot by raster X-ray nanofluorescence. Further, raster nanocrystallography of biological objects such as rod-like tobacco mosaic virus nanoparticles reveals crystalline macro-domain formation composed of highly oriented nanorods.
authors.affiliation: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, B.P.220, F-38043 Grenoble Cedex, France. riekel@esrf.fr.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marinaro
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Accardo
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Angelis
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dane
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weinhausen
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burghammer
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riekel