Templating Surfaces with Gradient Assemblies

One of the most versatile and widely used methods of forming surfaces with position-dependent wettability is that conceived by Chaudhury and Whitesides more than a decade ago [Science 256, 1539 (1992)]. In this paper we review several projects that utilize this gradient-forming methodology for: controlled of deposition of self-assembled monolayers on surfaces, generating arrays of nanoparticles with number density gradients, probing the mushroom-to-brush transition in surface-anchored polymers, and controlling the speed of moving liquid droplets on surfaces.