CSIRO PUBLISHING - Australian Journal of Chemistry

Evidence for Why Tri(ethylene oxide) Functionalized Si–C Linked Monolayers on Si(111) Have Inferior Protein Antifouling Properties Relative to the Equivalent Alkanethiol Monolayers Assembled on Gold

Till Böcking ^A ^B, Michael Gal ^B, Katharina Gaus ^C and J. Justin Gooding ^A ^D

^A School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
^B School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
^C Centre for Vascular Research, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
^D Corresponding author. Email: Justin.Gooding@unsw.edu.au

Abstract

High quality methoxy-terminated monolayers containing a tri(ethylene oxide) moiety were formed on Si(111)–H surfaces in thermal hydrosilylation reactions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, contact angle, and X-ray reflectivity measurements suggested that the suboptimal protein anti-fouling properties of these Si–C linked monolayers were due to a reduced lateral packing density of the chains resulting in a disordered layer with insufficient internal and external hydrophilicity.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 58(9) 660–663 doi:10.1071/CH05121
Submitted: 16 May 2005 Accepted: 19 July 2005 Published: 21 September 2005