Porous Polymeric Templates on ITO Prepared by Breath Figure Method for Gold Electrodeposition

• Preparation of porous poly(methyl methacrylate) by breath figure method on ITO.
• Application of porous PMMA as template for gold electrodeposition on ITO.
• ITO modified with gold particles (270 ± 50) nm after template dissolution.
• ITO modified with gold rings (400 ± 100) nm after template calcination.

The formation of porous spin-coated poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films on indium tin oxide (ITO) by breath figure method (BFM) is simple, fast and low cost. The porous PMMA film was applied as template for gold electrodeposition, allowing the control of the (i) amount of electrodeposited material by monitoring the charge densities and (ii) morphology of the resulting structure by properly setting the deposition kinetics. The precise control of the deposition conditions was crucial in order to avoid the loss of the desired patterned structure. This issue was investigated by varying the charge densities from 1.0 × 10−2 to 4.0 × 10−2C cm−2. Moreover, the variation in the cathodic current densities from 4.0 × 10−5 to 4.0 × 10−3 A cm−2 directly affected the roughness of the obtained gold particles. Finally, the method employed for the removal of porous PMMA affects the gold structure: the dissolution of PMMA in dimethylformamide (DMF) led to the formation of gold particles with (270 ± 50) nm in diameter, while the calcination of the polymeric membranes generated gold rings with (400 ± 100) nm in diameter. Such gold structures are relevant for applications in spectroscopy, (bio) sensors, catalysis and photonics.

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