Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide Colloidal Arrays as Templates for Droplet-Assisted Fabrication of Plasmonic Nanostructure Patterns

Abstract

The homogeneous and ordered coverage of substrate surfaces with nanostructures is still a challenge and is often tackled today, for example, by inkjet printing. In this case, drying effects in printed liquid droplets can lead to undesired pattern formation. Herein, colloidal arrays of poly-N-isopropylacrylamide are used for site-selective self-assembly of gold nanoparticles on large areas. The soft colloids support the drying process of gold nanoparticle dispersion droplets and leave room for capillary convection and Marangoni convection flow. This results in homogenous gold nanoparticle arrays with different shapes after drying, which can be converted into solid gold nanostructures by thermal treatment, paving the way for a simple bottom-up fabrication strategy for highly ordered nanostructure arrays on large areas.