Structured Surfaces on Glass Slides and Wetting Behaviors

Surface coassembly of polymer brushes and block copolymer (BCP) chains is an effective way to fabricate surface nanostructures. In this research, to fabricate structured surfaces, self-assembly of poly[2-(dimethylamino)-ethyl methacrylate]-<i>block</i>-polystyrene (PDMAEMA-<i>b</i>-PS) BCPs and PS brushes on glass slides was studied. Tannic acid was deposited on the surface of a gold-coated glass slide, and PDMAEMA-<i>b</i>-PS with a short PDMAEMA block was anchored onto the flat surface through hydrogen bonding interactions. PS brushes on the flat surface made the surface coassembly with linear BCPs into structured surfaces in methanol. The PS brush length, BCP concentration, and PDMAEMA/PS block length all exerted influences on the formation of the surfaces. An increase in the solvophobic component in the system leads to structural changes from spherical surface micelles to wormlike structures and to layer surface structures. The formation of the surface nanostructures exerts a significant effect on the surface hydrophobicity. The surface hydrophobicity increases with a change from spherical s-micelles to wormlike structures and to layer surface structures. We demonstrated that the layer surface structures could be removed from the flat surfaces by immersing the glass slides in an aqueous solution of hydrochloric acid (pH = 1). This research provides an approach to the synthesis of surface nanostructures on two-dimensional solid surfaces.