19th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Scanning electrochemical microscopy characterization of heterogeneous surfaces prepared by microcontact printing
Kiran Khadka
Dr. Brian D. Lamp, Faculty Mentor
Microcontact printing has found abundant use in the preparation of heterogeneous surfaces for chemical analysis with potential application in sensor design, metal deposition studies or to make enhanced microscale electrodes. In this series of experiments we used polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps to deposit a pattern of alkanethiol adsorbates on gold electrode surfaces. Thiol compounds are the most common “inks” for microcontact printing since they are known to form strongly bound monolayer films upon adsorption at gold electrodes. A variety of PDMS stamps were used, with features tens of micrometers in size. The electrochemical activity of these surfaces was characterized with scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). SECM is a probe microscopy technique that utilizes a microelectrode tip to explore the chemical and electrochemical activity a sample surface. The SECM characterization of our stamped electrodes allowed the production of three dimensional maps of redox processes occurring at the sample surface.
Keywords: Microcontact print, SECM, PDMS, heterogeneous surfac, alkanethiol, redox processes , probe microscopy , Thiol compounds
Topic(s):Chemistry
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 9-2
Location: VH 1432
Time: 8:30