Au nanoparticle micropatterns prepared from self-assembled films.

A kind of hybrid multilayer film based on mercaptobenzoic acid-capped Au nanoparticles (MBA-Au-NPs) and photoreactive nitrodiazoresin (NDR) has been fabricated via electrostatic self-assembly. Upon exposure to UV light, the initial ionic bonds between the layers of the film convert into covalent bonds and the film stability toward polar solvents, salt, or surfactant solutions increases significantly. The micropatterned NDR/MBA-Au-NP film with the covalently linked architecture was formed by selecting exposure of the film through a photomask and later developed in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) aqueous solution. The metallic Au-NP micropatterns, furthermore, are produced by sintering the micropatterned NDR/MBA-Au-NP film at 550 degrees C, at which the organic components are removed completely. The well-defined micropatterns were characterized with atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), microscope with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).