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Biomimetic Nanostructures Fabricated by Nanoimprint Lithography for Improved Cell‐Coupling
Author(s) -
Nowduri Bharat,
Schulte Steven,
Decker Dominique,
Schäfer KarlHerbert,
Saumer Monika
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.202004227
Subject(s) - materials science , nanoimprint lithography , nanostructure , nanotechnology , wetting , coupling (piping) , nanolithography , biosensor , soft lithography , adhesion , lithography , electrode , optoelectronics , composite material , fabrication , medicine , chemistry , alternative medicine , pathology
Since the advent of biosensing, structuring of electrode surfaces for the improvement of cell‐coupling and electrophysiological properties has been extensively investigated. Most of these methods result in structures with predefined dimensions and regular organization. Nevertheless, natural adhesion surfaces of the cells are hardly uniform. Therefore, this study focusses on fabricating randomly organized nanostructures mimicking the irregular distribution of natural collagen fibers coated on a planar surface. Fiber geometries are replicated by using a spin‐coating process followed by thermal nanoimprint lithography and gold electroplating. Microscopic studies reveal the width of these biomimetic collagen‐like gold nanostructures ranging between 200 nm and 5 µm, with a uniform height of ≈35 nm. In comparison to unstructured gold surfaces, nanostructured surfaces display a decrease in impedance magnitude by 50% for frequencies below 1 kHz and show an increase in critical free surface energy by 35%, the latter translating to an increased surface wettability. Culturing enteric neurons from postnatal mice, a relative hard to handle type of neurons, results in an improved spreading of the neural networks on the nanostructured surfaces.