Size-dependent self-organization of colloidal particles on chemically patterned surfaces.

A study of the self-organization of colloidal particles during the evaporation of particle solutions on chemically patterned surfaces is presented. On a surface with hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, colloidal particles form compact structures on the hydrophilic sites. When a colloidal solution containing a mixture of particles with a variation in size is used, the number density of each type of particle deposited on the hydrophilic islands after evaporation decreases with increasing particle size. This makes it possible to produce a concentration gradient of the particles on islands of different sizes. It is shown that this technique could allow for particle separation.