Selective immobilization of proteins guided by photo-patterned poly(vinyl alcohol) structures

The development of “protein resistant” materials is challenging since protein hysisorption takes place on most surfaces due to van der Waals interactions, hydrogen bonding and entropy effects. In this work a new process for converting a surface resistant to protein adsorption is presented by using a photo-patternable poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) based film. This material minimizes effectively protein physisorption and it can be patterned through photolithography on top of any substrate. Herein the PVA-based film is patterned on top of a poly(styrene) (PS) film, in order to achieve selective protein patterning on the PS film and demonstrate the resistance of the PVA-based material to protein physisorption. The proposed methodology is expected to facilitate the fabrication of sensors and bioelectronic devices since it provides a patterning route with alignment capabilities for protein resistant-surfaces and it is based on an easy to implement process.