Monolayer Assembly of Polystyrene Nanoparticles using Blade Coating for Colloidal Lithography
Abstract
Monolayers of polystyrene nanoparticles provide low-cost, nanoscale masks for colloidal lithography, enabling the fabrication of metallic nanoapertures. The diameter of the polystyrene nanoparticles constrains the feature size of the pattern while their ordered monolayer assembly dictates pattern transfer fidelity, thus accurate assembly is crucial. However, their assembly into monolayers remains challenging as conventional techniques, including spin coating, struggle in uniformity and formation of close-packed structures as solvent evaporation, poor adhesion, and temperature alterations significantly compromise the deposition. We address these challenges using two complementary strategies: the first is a directed assembly of polystyrene nanoparticles via blade coating, and the second a modified colloidal lithography scheme in which the nanoparticle mask is formed directly onto the target metallic film. Blade coating enables scalable deposition of nanoparticles, high surface coverage of up to 90% in areas as large as 4 cm 2 , and control over solvent evaporation enabling the assembly of mono and multilayers of particles by tuning coating speed, blade height, and blade geometry. The modified lithography consists on employing the resulting monolayers directly onto a metallic film and functionalizing the nanoparticles with Fe(NO 3 ) 3 to enhance their electrostatic interactions with the film. Then, lift-off selectively removes the metal in direct contact with the nanoparticles, producing nanoapertures with dimensions below the particle diameter. The obtained nanoapertures exhibited shapes of holes and double holes with 10 Air-water interface Yes 120 nm Monolayers tend to break 10 Liquid-liquid interface Yes 40 nm Challenging solvent evaporation, requires low temperatures (-18 • C) This work Blade coating No 30-50 nm Scalable, plasma-free, direct assembly on metallic films characteristic dimensions as low as 50 nm, four times smaller than the the original diameter of the nanoparticle, and neck widths down to 30 nm, without requiring plasma processes for further reductions. Electromagnetic simulations reveal strong electric field confinement suggesting a potential applicability in optical trapping.
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BibTeX
@misc{pellegrini2026monolayer,
title = {{Monolayer Assembly of Polystyrene Nanoparticles using Blade Coating for Colloidal Lithography}},
author = {Paloma E S Pellegrini and Renata C Nome and Francisco T Orlandini and Silvia V G Nista and Rene A Nome and Stanislav Moshkalev},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05842445v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Monolayer Assembly of Polystyrene Nanoparticles using Blade Coating for Colloidal Lithography
AU - Paloma E S Pellegrini
AU - Renata C Nome
AU - Francisco T Orlandini
AU - Silvia V G Nista
AU - Rene A Nome
AU - Stanislav Moshkalev
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - HAL
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05842445v1
AB - Monolayers of polystyrene nanoparticles provide low-cost, nanoscale masks for colloidal lithography, enabling the fabrication of metallic nanoapertures. The diameter of the polystyrene nanoparticles constrains the feature size of the pattern while their ordered monolayer assembly dictates pattern transfer fidelity, thus accurate assembly is crucial. However, their assembly into monolayers remains challenging as conventional techniques, including spin coating, struggle in uniformity and formation of close-packed structures as solvent evaporation, poor adhesion, and temperature alterations significantly compromise the deposition. We address these challenges using two complementary strategies: the first is a directed assembly of polystyrene nanoparticles via blade coating, and the second a modified colloidal lithography scheme in which the nanoparticle mask is formed directly onto the target metallic film. Blade coating enables scalable deposition of nanoparticles, high surface coverage of up to 90% in areas as large as 4 cm 2 , and control over solvent evaporation enabling the assembly of mono and multilayers of particles by tuning coating speed, blade height, and blade geometry. The modified lithography consists on employing the resulting monolayers directly onto a metallic film and functionalizing the nanoparticles with Fe(NO 3 ) 3 to enhance their electrostatic interactions with the film. Then, lift-off selectively removes the metal in direct contact with the nanoparticles, producing nanoapertures with dimensions below the particle diameter. The obtained nanoapertures exhibited shapes of holes and double holes with 10 Air-water interface Yes 120 nm Monolayers tend to break 10 Liquid-liquid interface Yes 40 nm Challenging solvent evaporation, requires low temperatures (-18 • C) This work Blade coating No 30-50 nm Scalable, plasma-free, direct assembly on metallic films characteristic dimensions as low as 50 nm, four times smaller than the the original diameter of the nanoparticle, and neck widths down to 30 nm, without requiring plasma processes for further reductions. Electromagnetic simulations reveal strong electric field confinement suggesting a potential applicability in optical trapping.
ER -