Grafted polymeric nanostructures patterned bottom–up by colloidal lithography and initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD)

Colloidal lithography is a popular non-conventional process which uses two-dimensional self-assembled monolayer arrays of colloidal nanoparticles as masks for “top–down” techniques such as etching or sputtering. Initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition (iCVD) is a surface controlled process which offers unprecedented opportunity for producing polymer brushes patterned through a colloidal template by grafting to substrates with dangling vinyl bonds. We demonstrate a generic “bottom–up” process as an inexpensive and simple technique for creating well-ordered arrays of functional patterned polymeric nanostructures. These patterns were produced from p(butyl acrylate) and p(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), and are robustly tethered to the underlying substrate as demonstrated by their ability to withstand aggressive solvent.