Single-step shaping of fluorescent polymer beads by a reverse breath figure approach

Abstract

We demonstrate a solution-based fabrication strategy to arrange different polymeric materials on a substrate in the form of micrometric beads by taking advantage of the spontaneous phenomenon of reverse breath figures. The technique we propose here is suitable for different kinds of polymers, including conjugated and fluorescent ones, aiming at a universal approach for the simple one-step shaping of fluorescent beads.