Porous silica substrates for polymer synthesis and assays

A porous substrate for the synthesis of polymer arrays comprising:

• a support region;
• and
• a porous region on the support region, the porous region being primarily inorganic and having a surface wherein polymers are placed such that polymer arrays are formed, the porous region comprising pores of a pore size of about 2 nm-500 nm, a porosity of about 10-80%, and a thickness of about 0.01 μm to about 70 μm, wherein the porous region is formed by an additive method of codepositing a latex polymer with silica, followed by removing the latex polymer.

A porous substrate for the synthesis of polymer arrays comprising:

• a support region;
• a porous region on the support region, the porous region being primarily inorganic and having a surface including an array of immobilized polymers, the porous region comprising pores of a pore size of about 2 nm to about 500 nm, a porosity of about 10% to about 80%, and a thickness of about 0.01 μm to about 70 μm.

A porous substrate for the synthesis of polymer arrays comprising:

• a support region;
• a porous region on the support region, the porous region being primarily inorganic and having a surface including an array of immobilized nucleic acids, the porous region comprising pores of a pore size of about 2 nm to about 500 nm, a porosity of about 10% to about 80%, and a thickness of about 0.01 μm to about 70 μm.