PEPTIDE NANOFILAMENTS USED FOR REPLICA-MOLDING: A COMBINATION OF "BOTTOM-UP" AND "TOP-DOWN"

A novel nanofabrication method that combines both "bottom-up" (template-assisted peptide self-assembling) and "top-down" (replica molding) techniques is introduced. A designer peptide, GAV-9 (NH2-VGGAVVAGV-CONH2), can epitaxially self-assemble into nanofilaments on the surface of mica, which is further used as the diversified masters for the application of replica molding. With in situ atomic force microscopy monitoring, several typical masters are fabricated by peptide self-assembling on the surface of mica. These masters can be easily molded into hard poly(dimethylsiloxane) surfaces, and then further replica-molded into polyurethane surfaces. The polymeric surfaces with regular 1D and 2D patterns on the nanometer scale are expected to have new applications in nanostructure's fabrication.