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Cleaving Direct‐Laser‐Written Microstructures on Demand
Author(s) -
Zieger Markus M.,
Mueller Patrick,
Quick Alexander S.,
Wegener Martin,
BarnerKowollik Christopher
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201701593
Subject(s) - dithiothreitol , phenacyl , chemistry , cleavage (geology) , disulfide bond , acrylate , photoresist , polymerization , microstructure , linker , materials science , polymer , polymer chemistry , photochemistry , crystallography , organic chemistry , computer science , composite material , copolymer , biochemistry , layer (electronics) , fracture (geology) , enzyme , operating system
Using an advanced functional photoresist we introduce direct‐laser‐written (DLW) 3D microstructures capable of complete degradation on demand. The networks consist exclusively of reversible bonds, formed by irradiation of a phenacyl sulfide linker, giving disulfide bonds in a radical‐free step‐growth polymerization via a reactive thioaldehyde. The bond formation was verified in solution by ESI‐MS. To induce cleavage, dithiothreitol causes a thiol–disulfide exchange, erasing the written structure. The mild cleavage of the disulfide network is highly orthogonal to other, for example, acrylate‐based DLW structures. To emphasize this aspect, DLW structures were prepared incorporating reversible structural elements into a non‐reversible acrylate‐based standard scaffold, confirming subsequent selective cleavage. The high lateral resolution achievable was verified by the preparation of well‐defined line gratings with line separations of down to 300 nm.