Silicone elastomer stamp with hydrophilic surfaces and method of making same

A method for fabricating silocone elastomer stamps with hydrophilic surfaces is provided. The concept of polymer grafting is used to produce the stamps. The stamps thus produced have the great advantage that grafting of a thin hydrophilic polymer on a hydrophobic PDMS surface can render PDMS stamps permanently hydrophilic. With such stamps it becomes possible to print aqueous or highly polar inks reproducibly over days and weeks.