Nanometer-thick coatings on surfaces
Molecular assembly can be targeted to alter the chemical and physical properties of a material’s surface. Surface coatings instantly alter a material’s texture, color and compatibility with, and responsiveness to, the environment. Conventional coatings are typically applied by painting or electroplating. The coatings are usually in the ten- and hundred-
micron size ranges and the interface is often not complementary at the molecular level. Thus, erosion is common.
Whitesides and collaborators38–41 have developed a microcontact printing technology that combines semi-conducting industry fabrication, chemistry, and polymer science to produce defined features on a surface down to the micrometer or nanometer scale. Following microcontact printing, a surface can be functionalized with different molecules using a variety of methods (e.g., covalent coupling, surfaceadhesion, coordination chemistry, and dip-pen nanolithography)