Spatially Resolving Polymer Brush Conformation: Opportunities Ahead

• Published in: Macromolecular chemistry and physics 2023-01, Vol.224 (1), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Besford, Quinn A., Uhlmann, Petra, Fery, Andreas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brushes; conformational transitions; Molecular conformation; polymer brushes; Polymers; sensing; spatially resolved; Stimuli; Surface properties
• ISSN: 1022-1352; 1521-3935
• DOI: 10.1002/macp.202200180

Surfaces that respond to local environmental stimuli offer intriguing possibilities for new surface‐based sensing concepts to emerge. An attractive concept is to push beyond the milli‐ to micrometer lateral resolution limit in sensing, toward the ultimate surface‐sensitive device; one capable of real‐time sensing of the nanoscopic, or molecular “touch.” This sensing needs an approach that is capable of spatially transducing information on nanotouch. Polymer brushes are a class of surface that provides dramatic changes in surface properties depending on stimuli that affect the conformation of end‐tethered polymer chains. However, the brush response is typically quantified by measuring changes in polymer brush “height”. That is, the ensemble average distance over which polymer density exists away from the anchoring surface (i.e., a single parameter to describe the surface). Moving beyond this conceptual paradigm of quantifying the ensemble average height in a single dimension over the entire surface under applied stimuli, developing methods for spatially resolving chain conformation has the very real potential to lead to extraordinary possibilities in the applied sciences. In this perspective, the current paradigms and methods forward for extracting rich details on polymer brush conformational dynamics that is spatially resolved, which can lead to new understandings of surface contact, are discussed and pointed out. Polymer brush surfaces provide an intriguing platform with which to engineer nanoscale surface‐based sensing devices. In this perspective, methods and benefits of resolving polymer brush conformation spatially across a surface are discussed, and where the polymer brush field still has room to move with respect to building surface sensing devices.