Vapor deposition of Ti or Zr alkoxides onto either inorganic or organic polymer substrates is followed by mild thermolysis to yield ultrathin coatings of the corresponding oxides. In each case the interface formed between the oxide and the substrate is critical for the success of a device that is then constructed on the substrate. Two examples of such interface formation will be described. In the first, an ultrathin layer of TiO2 is grown on hydrogen-terminated silicon, which is then shown to yield an efficient hole-blocking layer for silicon-based photovoltaic devices only when Si-O-Ti bonding is generated. In the second, an ultrathin film of ZrO2 is grown on the surface of an organic polymer that is used as a bioscaffold for tissue growth. When such vapor deposition occurs through a mask, patterns of the ZrO2 are obtained. The oxide formed under mild thermal conditions is highly reactive toward phosphonic acids, which allows for the formation of surface patterns of Zr phosphonates either on a flat substrate or inside a tubular one. Templating highly aligned cell attachment, spreading, and matrix assembly on the polymer surface will be shown; the aligned matrix thus produced serves as a nature-mimetic scaffold to spatially control neurite outgrowth from neuron surrogate cells in a model for a nerve regeneration device.

Simple interfaces for complex systems: A little oxide goes a long way

251st National Meeting (2016)

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