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Fabrication of patterned cellulose film via solvent-assisted soft nanoimprint lithography at a submicron scale

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Abstract

Solvent-assisted soft nanoimprint lithography of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) has been applied to easily fabricate nano-/microscale structured cellulose films of various structures, including line gratings and pillar patterns. The cellulose-based ink consisted of CNCs, citric acid, and sodium hypophosphite monohydrate. After imprinting with a crosslinked poly(dimethylsiloxane) stamp (PDMS), the patterned CNC films were crosslinked via the citric acid present under mild heat treatment. In order to obtain well-defined ultra-small structures, two different modification methods were applied to optimize the wettability between the CNC dispersions and the PDMS stamp. With this modification, CNC films could be patterned on various substrates by either direct imprint or reversal imprint methods. The dimensions of the patterned features in the cellulose films was as small as 140 nm.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the BASF North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials (NORA). The authors thank Dr. Marc Schroeder at BASF for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Yiliang Zhou, Yinyong Li, Feyza Dundar, Kenneth R. Carter & James J. Watkins

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  1. Yiliang Zhou
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  2. Yinyong Li
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  3. Feyza Dundar
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  4. Kenneth R. Carter
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  5. James J. Watkins
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Kenneth R. Carter or James J. Watkins.

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Zhou, Y., Li, Y., Dundar, F. et al. Fabrication of patterned cellulose film via solvent-assisted soft nanoimprint lithography at a submicron scale. Cellulose 25, 5185–5194 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-1920-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-018-1920-2

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