Massively parallel dip-pen nanolithography of heterogeneous supported phospholipid multilayer patterns

The noncovalent modality of dip-pen nanolithography (DPN) is a suitable approach for the rapid fabrication and integration of large-scale phospholipid nanostructure libraries on a variety of substrates. This method provides a lateral resolution down to 100 nm and an areal throughout of 5 cm 2min-1. The hydrated phospholipid DOPC can be used as a universal ink for noncovalent patterning on a variety of surfaces, ranging from hydrophilic silicon to hydrophobic polystyrene. The resulting multilayer patterns are fluid and stable on certain surfaces upon immersion in water, while on other surfaces they can spread to form supported lipid bilayer membranes. The ability of DPN to fabricate and integrate arbitrary phospholipid patterns of submicrometer line widths opens many new possibilities in the design of membrane chemical heterogeneity and membrane structural constructs.