Positive patterning of ferritin and fibronectin molecules on silicon by the Atomic Force Microscopic anodic oxidation technique

Oxide dots fabricated on silicon (111) by the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) anodic oxidation technique was used for the patterning of two different proteins namely, ferritin and fibronectin. Si surfaces were oxidized by the SC1 process and then modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) for passivation. Oxide dots were fabricated by applying a bias voltage between the AFM probe and the silicon surface. Furthermore, surface functionalization of oxide dots was achieved through γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (γ-APTES) and glutaraldehye modification to establish a covalent bond between aldehydes and amino groups of protein molecules. Topographies after each modification steps were monitored by AFM. We were able to achieve positive patterning of ferritin molecules up to an average density of 6×10 ⁹/cm ² on γ-APTES-covered dots, while 9×10 ⁸/cm ² of ferritin molecules remained on the OTS surface. In contrast to this observation, fibronectin molecules were patterned successfully only on oxide dots, and we did not observe any fibronectin molecules on the OTS surface.