Lipids can play a range of surprising roles in materials chemistry. For instance, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a widely used silicone elastomer due to its versatility in terms of modulus and other mechanical properties. We have recently demonstrated a method for precisely controlling the surface chemistry of Sylgard-184, a commercial PDMS blend, based on covalent transfer of a polymerized lipid striped phases exhibiting 1-nm-resolution functional patterns. However, some applications of PDMS (<i>e.g.</i> wearable electronics and cell culture) require the use of much softer PDMS, which often contain lower concentrations of the reactive groups that promote lipid striped phase transfer to the PDMS surface. Here, we systematically examine structural features of the crosslinker and PDMS base polymer that lead to effective interfacial reaction for lipid pattern transfer. Understanding such design principles is of broad chemical importance, since interfacial reactions are typically 1-2 orders of magnitude less efficient than similar reactions in solution.

Lipid striped phases for precision patterning of an amorphous elastomer: Controlling interfacial reactions of 1-nm functional patterns with polydimethylsiloxane

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