Dynamic silica assembly for fabrication of nanoscale polymer channels

Nanoscale polymer silica hybrid nanochannel array of average channel size of ∼50 nm were fabricated by electrokinetically induced silicification reaction within a polymer template. The uniform growth of silica can be realized by appropriate combination of reactant concentration and electric field strength. The formed silica leads to the reduction in channel size, and provides substantial reinforcement to the polymer nanostructure. Such nanochannel arrays may be a useful platform for a variety of biomedical applications.