The fabrication of micropatterns of a 2D colloidal assembly by electrophoretic deposition

Abstract

In this work, the fabrication technique for micropatterns of a colloidal assembly on a gold-patterned electrode surface using electrophoretic deposition is described. It was found that the micropatterns of a colloidal assembly were preferentially deposited onto the gold pattern region, when a patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode using TEM-grids was introduced in the electrodeposition of colloidal particles. The use of an appropriate electrodeposition time resulted in an ordered colloidal assembly structure and prevented the unwanted aggregation of particles. The micropatterning of a colloidal assembly arises because ail electrohydrodynamic flow of the colloidal suspension towards the gold domains is induced by the variation of the current density of the gold-patterned electrode. The proposed method offers a robust way to fabricate colloidal assembly patterns, which have various applications.