Microcontact printing of catalytic colloids

US6060121A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• President and Fellows of Harvard College · US

Inventors

• Pirmin Hidber · Basel, CH
• Wolfgang Helbig · Mülheim an der Ruhr, DE
• Enoch Kim · Boston, US
• George M. Whitesides · Newton, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 15, 1996
• Grant date: May 9, 2000
• Expiry date: Mar 15, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B41M3/006
• WIPO field: Micro-structural and nano-technology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A method of transferring a chemical activating agent from an applicator to a substrate surface involves providing an applicator having a raised application surface, applying a chemical activating agent to the application surface, contacting the substrate surface with the application surface, and removing the applicator. The chemical activating agent is transferred in a form in which it is capable of effecting a chemical reaction, such as catalysis, at the surface. Thus, following transfer of the chemical activating agent to the surface in a pattern, a metal can be plated at the substrate surface in the pattern. The applicator can be an elastomeric stamp having a raised portion defining a stamping surface.