Precise Micropatterning of a Porous Poly(Ionic Liquid) via Maskless Photolithography for High-Performance Non-Enzymatic H2O2 Sensing

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel maskless photolithography method for precise micropatterning of porous poly(ionic liquid)s, enabling high-performance non-enzymatic H2O2 sensors with enhanced sensitivity and broad detection range.

Contribution

The study introduces a rapid, in situ patterning technique for porous PIL microstructures, facilitating their use in miniaturized, high-performance sensors.

Findings

Successful micropatterning of porous PIL microstructures.

Enhanced sensor sensitivity and detection range with Pt nanoparticle loading.

Potential for industrial application of patterned porous PILs.

Abstract

Porous poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) recently have been actively serving as a multifunctional, interdisciplinary materials platform in quite a few research areas, including separation, catalysis, actuator, sensor, and energy storage, just to name a few. In this context, the capability to photo-pattern PIL microstructures in a porous state on a substrate is still missing but is a crucial step for their real industrial usage. Here, we developed a method for in situ rapid patterning of porous PIL microstructures via a maskless photolithography approach coupled with a simple electrostatic complexation treatment. This breakthrough enables designs of miniaturized sensors. As exemplified in this work, upon loading Pt nanoparticles into porous PIL microstructures, the hybrid sensor showed outstanding performance, bearing both a high sensitivity and a wide detection range.