Patterning-mediated supramolecular assembly of lipids into nanopalms
Samar A. Alsudir,
Alhanouf Alharbi,
Abdulaziz M. Almalik,
Ali H. Alhasan
Affiliations
Samar A. Alsudir
National Center for Biotechnology, Life science and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia
Alhanouf Alharbi
National Center for Biotechnology, Life science and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz M. Almalik
National Center for Biotechnology, Life science and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia; KACST-BWH/Harvard Centre of Excellence for Biomedicine, Joint Centers of Excellence Program, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia
Ali H. Alhasan
National Center for Biotechnology, Life science and Environmental Research Institute, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), P.O. Box 6086, Riyadh 11461, Saudi Arabia; College of Science and General Studies, Alfaisal University, P.O. Box 50927, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author
Summary: At nanoconfined interfaces, a micellar ink of lipids was programmed to transform into various secondary structures such as discs, sheets, or sheet and discs via patterning-mediated self-assembly facilitated by polymer pen lithography. Nanoconfinement with printing force, humidity, temperature, pattern size, and total printing time all governed the intramolecular assembly of lipids and determined their structural shape and size. For example, disc or sheet architectures self-organized to produce cochleates or discotic liquid crystals, respectively. In contrast, the combined structure of sheet and discs produced a novel supramolecular output referred to as “nanopalms”. The mechanism of nanopalms formation and the origin of their stability were investigated and discussed. Post patterning treatment helped to transform the patterned discs into ribbons and sheets into cochleates that could facilitate the curling of ribbons along their folding direction in a programmed manner via intermolecular self-organization producing the nanopalms.
