title: Amino-functionalized breath-figure cavities in polystyrene-alumina hybrid films: effect of particle concentration and dispersion.
abstract: We report the formation of breath-figure (BF) patterns with amino-functionalized cavities in a BF incompatible polystyrene (PS) by incorporating functionalized alumina nanoparticles. The particles were amphiphilic-modified and the modifier ratio was regulated to achieve a specific hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance of the particles. The influence of the physical and chemical properties of the particles like particle concentration, the hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance, etc., on particle dispersion in solvents having different polarity and the corresponding changes in the BF patterns have been studied. The amphiphilic-modified alumina particles could successfully assist the BF mechanism, generating uniform patterns in polystyrene films with the cavity walls decorated with the functionalized alumina particles, even from water-miscible solvents like THF. The possibility of fabricating free-standing micropatterned films by casting and drying the suspension under ambient conditions was also demonstrated. The present method opens up a simple route for producing functionalized BF cavities, which can be post-modified by a chemical route for various biological applications.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science and Technology Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Thiruvananthapuram 695019, India. lekshmyv86@gmail.com tpdrajan@rediffmail.com.
authors.forename: Lakshmi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: V
authors.forename: Annu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raju
authors.forename: Resmi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: V G
authors.forename: Jerin K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Pancrecious
authors.forename: Rajan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: T P D
authors.forename: Pavithran
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: C