Reactive additive capillary stamping with double network hydrogel-derived aerogel stamps under solvothermal conditions

Abstract

Integration of solvothermal reaction products into complex thin-layer architectures is frequently achieved by combinations of layer transfer and subtractive lithography, whereas direct additive substrate patterning with solvothermal reaction products has remained challenging. We report reactive additive capillary stamping under solvothermal conditions as a parallel contact-lithographic access to patterns of solvothermal reaction products in thin-layer configurations. To this end, corresponding precursor inks are infiltrated into mechanically robust mesoporous aerogel stamps derived from double-network hydrogels (DNHGs). The stamp is then brought into contact with a substrate to be patterned under solvothermal reaction conditions inside an autoclave. The precursor ink forms liquid bridges between the topographic surface pattern of the stamp and the substrate. Evaporation-driven enrichment of the precursors in these liquid bridges along with their liquid-bridge-guided conversion into the solvothermal reaction products yields large-area submicron patterns of the solvothermal reaction products replicating the stamp topography. As example, we prepared thin hybrid films, which contained ordered monolayers of superparamagnetic submicron nickel ferrite dots prepared by solvothermal capillary stamping surrounded by nickel electrodeposited in a second, orthogonal substrate functionalization step. The submicron nickel ferrite dots acted as magnetic hardener halving the remanence of the ferromagnetic nickel layer. In this way, thin-layer electromechanical systems, transformers and positioning systems may be customized.