Multifunctional Nanofiber Arrays Templated from Liquid Crystal Films via Chemical Vapor Polymerization

Surfaces decorated with oriented arrays of fibers are ubiquitous in the natural world because they can provide functions such as sensing (hair cells), thermal insulation (polar bear fur), enhanced mass transport (microtubules), extreme wetting properties (lotus leaf), and reversible adhesion (gecko foot). However, recreation of these functions in synthetic materials requires multiscale engineering processes that enable control over the composition, shape and morphology of individual fibers as well as control over higher order organization of fibers into arrays. For example, extrusion, electrospinning and microdrawing are manufacturing processes widely used to create fibrous polymer mats, but these approaches offer limited access to oriented arrays of nanometer-scale fibers with controlled size, shape and lateral organization. In this presentation, I will introduce our recent discovery that chemical vapor polymerization can be performed on surfaces coated with thin films of liquid crystals to synthesize organized assemblies of end-attached polymer nanofibers.[1] Significantly, the approach enables access to nanofiber arrays with complex, yet precisely defined structures and compositions. We also demonstrate the nanofiber arrays to permit tailoring of a wide range of functional properties, including wetting, conductivity, optical properties, biodegradability, biological interactions, and adhesion that depends on nanofiber chirality. [1] K. Cheng†; M. Pantoja†; Y.-K. Kim†; J. Gregory; F. Xie; A. France; C. Hussal; K. Sun; N. Abbott*; and J. Lahann*, Templated nanofiber synthesis via chemical vapor polymerization into liquid crystalline films, SCIENCE, 362, 804-808 (2018). † : Equal contribution2