The Stevens Institute of Technology will acquire a dip pen nanolithography (DPN) system. With it, Stevens and its collaborators at area universities will create a novel resource for high-resolution functionalization of surfaces. DPN is a new approach, which is uniquely suited for chemically modifying surfaces at length scales as small as 10 nm. Because of its ability to precisely position its tip, DPN can modulate such chemical modifications in diverse user-defined patterns to enhance a broad range of different research projects. A group of five research-active scientists from three different Northern New Jersey institutions will use the DPN system to substantially enhance a set of forward-looking projects that include: development of nanohydrogel-based protein nanoarrays; coherent surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy using directed deposition of Ag and Au nanoparticle arrays; and stem cell differentiation on biochemically nanopatterned surfaces. In addition to these research initiatives, the DPN system will also anchor several new educational and outreach activities. For example, new concepts of surface nanofunctionalization will be incorporated into a series of courses offered at Stevens and at the nearby New Jersey Institute of Technology. Forward-looking ideas of nanotechnology will also be introduced into ongoing summer outreach programs to underprivileged high-school students. This effort, executed in collaboration with the American Chemical Society SEED program, will encourage these young people to pursue college opportunities in science and engineering.
Lay Abstract
Dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is among the newest and most advanced scientific tools for controlling how the surfaces of materials interact with their surroundings. DPN can create patterns that are almost 1000 times smaller than those in state-of-the-art electronic devices like advanced computer chips. Furthermore, DPN can deposit as little as a few molecules at each point in the surface pattern, and this capability gives scientists and engineers impressive new control over chemical reactions that occur at very specific points on a surface. We will use DPN in research projects to learn how individual cells behave when they stick to a surface, to develop new sensors that can detect trace quantities of harmful chemicals, and to build new tools for biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. We will also use the DPN system as a new part of a very successful program called Project SEED that provides summer internships to underpriviledged high-school students. We expect that introducing these students to some of the exciting opportunities associated with nanotechnology will help encourage them to pursue a college education and work towards careers in science and engineering.
