Preparation of chemical gradients on porous silicon by a dip coating method

Abstract

Gradient surfaces have become invaluable tools for the high-throughput characterisation of biomolecule- and cell-material surface interactions as they allow for the screening and optimisation of surface parameters such as surface chemistry, topography and ligand density in a single experiment. Here, we have generated surface chemistry gradients on oxidised porous silicon (pSi) substrates using silane functionalisation. In these studies, pSi films with a pore size of 15-30 nm and a layer thickness of around 1.7 μm were utilised. The manufacture of gradient surface chemistries of silanes was performed using a simple dip coating method, whereby an increasing incubation time of the substrate in ..