Name: multiscale structures aggregated by imprinted nanofibers for functional surfaces
Uploaded: 2018-09-11T14:45:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Multiscale Structures Aggregated by Imprinted Nanofibers for Functional Surfaces at JoVE.com

This material is based on work supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2017R1A2B4008053) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea) under Industrial Technology Innovation Program No. 10052802 and the Korea Institute for the Advancement of Technology (KIAT) through the Encouragement Program for The Industries of Economic Cooperation Region (N0002310).

1. Fabrication of Nano-Micro Multiscale Structure Surface Using an AAO Filter (Figure 1)
<ol>
	<li>Purchase an AAO filter with a pore size, height, and diameter of 200 nm, 60 &#181;m, and 25 mm, respectively.</li>
	<li>1.2. Clean the surface of the Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film having a thickness of 100 &#956;m to use acetone with 99.8% and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with 99.9% for 5 min, and completely dry for 3 min using an air gun.</li>
	<li>Place the PET film on a flat surface wit...

<ol>
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J., Lee, H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Replication+of+rose-petal+surface+structure+using+UV-nanoimprint+lithography.">Replication of rose-petal surface structure using UV-nanoimprint lithography.</a> Materials Letters. 121, 170-173 (2014).</li><li>Yu, Z., Chou, S. 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The key step in fabrication of the self-aggregated nanofiber assembly is to ensure that the brittle AAO filter does not break when applying the resin with the rubber rollers. In fact, it should be ensured that the AAO filter does not break at any point before the etching step. Because the AAO filter is 25 mm in diameter, the size of the substrate is approximately 30 x 30 mm.
The self-aggregated nanofiber assembly allows us to provide various functional surfaces through the proper surface treat...

Nanoscale textured structures such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanofibers have attracted attention in the scientific community, as they demonstrate unique characteristics in various applications including electrical, biomedical, optical, and surface engineering1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. In particular, nanofibers are widely used in stretchable and transparent electrodes9, wearable sensors10,11, interconnections12,13, and nano-optics applications14. Among the various methods of fabricating nanoscale structures, such as sol-gel methods, self-assembly, lithography, and replication15,16,17,18,19,20, direct replication using a template is currently considered a promising method because it is simple, cost-effective, and applicable to various curable materials21,22,23,24,25,26.
Owing to its multiscale structure having a large number of nano-scale pores and micro-scale height, AAO is widely used as the template for fabrication of nanofibers and nanotubes with a high aspect ratio27,28,29,30. However, because of the surface tension at such a high aspect ratio, nanofibers tend to easily aggregate31,32,33. Existing research has proved that nanofibers having an aspect ratio greater than 15:1 do not stand upright but instead aggregate, whereas those having a ratio less than 5:1 are individually isolated without aggregation33,34. Capillary force and surface tension play an important role upon the removal of alumina using an etchant, which is one of the processes during nanofiber fabrication. When aspect ratio increases, surface tension among nanofibers tends to pull them closer to one another, causing aggregation. Several studies have focused on methods to prevent such aggregation35, which is particularly observed in polymer and metallic nanofibers. Among these, hydration of the nanofiber surface may reduce the agglomeration because when a liquid occupies the spaces between nanofibers, surface tension decreases. Further, the freeze-drying method may also reduce aggregation by decreasing surface tension between nanofibers. However, despite various efforts, the straightening of nanofibers with a high aspect ratio remains a challenge.
To this end, we report a unique method for fabricating multiscale structures of tangled nanofiber by exploiting the aggregation phenomenon in a positive manner. Here, the nanofiber structure is imprinted using an AAO filter and polyurethane-acrylate (PUA)-type resins with a viscosity of 257.4 cP. After UV nano imprint lithography (UV-NIL) is performed, the mold is etched with a&#160;NaOH solution. To characterize the proposed multiscale structures, we investigate the pattern behaviors of the sample with aggregated nanofibers and the surface wettability after proper surface treatments such as coating with a self-assembled monolayer and UV ozone treatment. Furthermore, we propose that the multiscale porous surface can be converted simply to a slippery surface using a lubricant-infused process.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>MINS 511RM</td>
			<td>Minuta Tech</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>UV curable resin</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)</td>
			<td>Aldrich</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Surface treatment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium oxidanide</td>
			<td>SAMCHUN</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Etching solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Anopore Inoganic Membranes</td>
			<td>Whatman</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>25mm/0.2&#181;m</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>MT-UV-A 47</td>
			<td>Meiji Techno</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>UV curing equipment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>UVC-30</td>
			<td>Jaesung Engineering</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>UVO treatment equipment</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Smart Drop Plus</td>
			<td>FEMTOFAB</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Contact angle measurement</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluorinert FC-70</td>
			<td>3M</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>liquid mixture of completely fluorinated aliphatic compounds</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polyethylene terephthalate film</td>
			<td>Sunchem</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Substrate</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Acetone (99.8%)</td>
			<td>Daejung</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Cleaning solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isopropyl alcohol (99.9%)</td>
			<td>Daejung</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Cleaning solution</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Rubber roller</td>
			<td>Hwahong</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>For application of resin</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Corning Stirring Hot Plates</td>
			<td>Corning</td>
			<td></td>
			<td>Hot plate equipment (5&#34; x 7&#34;)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

multiscale structures aggregated by imprinted nanofibers for functional surfaces

Multiscale surface structures have attracted increasing interest owing to several potential applications in surface devices. However, an existing challenge in the field is the fabrication of hybrid micro-nano structures using a facile, cost-effective, and high-throughput method. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a protocol to fabricate multiscale structures using only an imprint process with an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) filter and an evaporative self-aggregation process of nanofibers. Unlike previous attempts that have aimed to straighten nanofibers, we demonstrate a unique fabrication method for multiscale aggregated nanofibers with high aspect ratios. Furthermore, the surface morphology and wettability of these structures on various liquids were investigated to facilitate their use in multifunctional surfaces.

We demonstrated a fast and simple method for the fabrication of multiscale nano-micro hybrid structures using an AAO filter as an imprinting mold. The entire process took 30 min (Figure 4). It was noted that after undergoing the etching process using NaOH, the resultant surface exhibited an opaque color similar to the original AAO filter, owing to the aggregated nanofiber assembly caused by surface tension. Further, the results of the EDX analysis confirmed t...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Multiscale Structures Aggregated by Imprinted Nanofibers for Functional Surfaces at JoVE.com

Multiscale Structures Aggregated by Imprinted Nanofibers for Functional Surfaces

Presented is an easy method to fabricate nano-micro multiscale structures, for functional surfaces, by aggregating nanofibers fabricated using an anodic aluminum oxide filter.

Multiscale surface structures have attracted increasing interest owing to several potential applications in surface devices. However, an existing ...

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