Printed Biomolecular Templates For 2d Material Patterning

An approach for printing micron-scale electronic devices built from two-dimensional materials is presented. Experimental phage display techniques and computational atomistic simulation approaches were used to identify a peptide molecule that effectively anchors the basal plane surface of two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 to SiO2 surfaces. This peptide was suspended in water to develop an ink suitable for aerosol jet printing. The printed substrates were then dip coated with a suspension of liquid phase exfoliated 2D MoS2 particles. Strong adhesion of physically continuous lines of these particles was observed only on regions of the substrate patterned with the peptide-based ink, thereby enabling aerosol jet printing as a template for devices based on 2D materials. Graphene was also bound to SiO2 via a similar approach, but with a different peptide known from prior work to selectively adhere to the basal plane of graphene. Fundamental peptide-surface interactions for MoS2, graphene, and SiO2 were explored via simulation and experiment. This printing method is proposed as a route towards large-scale, low temperature patterning of 2D materials and devices. The electrical properties of continuous lines of MoS2 particles printed in a single pass of peptide ink printing were measured via transmission line measurements. The results indicate that this molecular attachment approach to printing possesses several advantages such as overcoming nozzle clogging due to nanomaterial aggregation, decoupling of particle size from any dimensions associated with the printer, and single-pass printing of electrically continuous films. Published by AIP Publishing.