Selective Self-Assembly of Polymer Structures Using Templated Assembly by Selective Removal

This paper presents the first models and experimental demonstrations of the selective assembly of deformable polymer structures onto rigid assembly templates using templated assembly by selective removal (TASR). Polystyrene microspheres with 2 μm diameter were successfully assembled with nearly 100% assembly yield into assembly sites that are uniformly well-matched to the microspheres' size and shape. The experiments also demonstrated selective assembly of microspheres into well-matched assembly sites when both well-matched and poorly matched assembly sites were available. In order to identify the limits of the TASR process for assembly in deformable systems, an analytical model was created. This model assesses the applicability of TASR to different materials systems using Hertzian contact theory to identify the onset of plastic deformation in a loaded, deformable sphere on a surface of given geometry. Using this model, TASR's effectiveness was predicted to include many polymers on rigid substrates. Quantitative comparison of the deformable system assembly data obtained here with existing TASR models for nondeformable systems shows significant agreement.