SAMs are an inexpensive and versatile surface coating for applications including control of wetting and adhesion, chemical resistance, bio compatibility, sensitization, and molecular recognition for sensors and nano fabrication. Areas of application for SAMs include biology, electrochemistry and electronics, nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and everyday household goods. SAMs can serve as models for studying membrane properties of cells and organelles and cell attachment on surfaces. SAMs can also be used to modify the surface properties of electrodes for electrochemistry, general electronics, and various NEMS and MEMS. For example, the properties of SAMs can be used to control electron transfer in electrochemistry. They can serve to protect metals from harsh chemicals and etchants. SAMs can also reduce sticking of NEMS and MEMS components in humid environments. In the same way, SAMs can alter the properties of glass. A common household product, Rain-X, utilizes SAMs to create a hydrophobic monolayer on car windshields to keep them clear of rain. Another application is an anti-adhesion coating on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) tools and stamps. One can also coat injection molding tools for polymer replication with a Perfluordecyltrichlorosilane SAM.
Thin film SAMs can also be placed on nanostructures. In this way they functionalize the nanostructure. This is advantageous because the nanostructure can now selectively attach itself to other molecules or SAMs. This technique is useful in biosensors or other MEMS devices that need to separate one type of molecule from its environment. One example is the use of magnetic nanoparticles to remove a fungus from a blood stream. The nanoparticle is coated with a SAM that binds to the fungus. As the contaminated blood is filtered through a MEMS device the magnetic nanoparticles are inserted into the blood where they bind to the fungus and are then magnetically driven out of the blood stream into a nearby laminar waste stream.