AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Thin Film Division Thursday Sessions
       Session TF+EM+SS-ThA

Paper TF+EM+SS-ThA6
Free-standing, SAM-based, Hybrid Biocompatible Nanomembranes for Biological Applications

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 3:40 pm, Room 110

Session: Applications of Self Assembled Monolayers
Presenter: Nikolaus Meyerbröker, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Authors: N. Meyerbröker, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
W. Eck, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
M. Zharnikov, Universität Heidelberg, Germany
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Functional monomolecular films - so-called self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) - represent a broad platform for nanofabrication, sensor design, and molecular electronics, as well as a framework for Chemical Lithography, and a model system for organic interfaces and molecular, macromolecular and biological assemblies. These films can be prepared on different substrates which provide necessary support and guarantee the persistence of the 2D molecular assembly. Since the intermolecular interaction within the SAMs is relatively weak, such films cannot exist without support, dissipating into the individual constituents upon the separation from the substrate. However, as far as the individual molecules within a SAM can be cross-linked extensively by physical means such as electron irradiation, the resulting quasi-polymer film can be separated from the substrate and exist as a free-standing monomolecular membrane on its own. In this presentation we describe the formation of such free-standing membranes on the basis of aromatic SAMs. In contrast to the previous work, we used not only non-substituted but nitro- and nitrile-substituted SAM constituents which, due to either nitro-to-amine or nitrile-to-amine transformation, become chemically reactive after the irradiation treatment and can be subsequently coupled to further species. As such species we used oligo(ethylene glycol)-based molecules with a specific anchor group providing the coupling to the amine groups of the monomolecular template. After the attachment, these templates and respective hybrid membranes become protein-repelling and as such can be used as a non-disruptive and highly transparent support for proteins and cells in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments. Whereas the ultimate thinness of this support guarantees a high imaging quality, protein-repelling ensures the lack of protein denaturing, which extents essentially the possibilities of TEM experiments in their specific application to sensitive biological targets.