Biofunctionalized nanoarrays of inorganic structures prepared by dip-pen nanolithography

A dip-pen nanolithography based strategy for fabricating and functionalizing Au nanostructures on a semiconductor substrate is reported. The generation of arrays of nanoscale features functionalized with inorganic nanoparticles and proteins (rabbit IgG) is reported. In the case of rabbit IgG, the bioactivity of the array was demonstrated by monitoring its reaction with fluorophore-labelled anti-rabbit IgG. The methodology reported herein points towards ways of making raised optically active and bioactive nanostructures that could prove useful in stamping methodologies or biosensing applications.