A Reversibly Switching Surface

We report the design of surfaces that exhibit dynamic changes in interfacial properties, such as wettability, in response to an electrical potential. The change in wetting behavior was caused by surface-confined, single-layered molecules undergoing conformational transitions between a hydrophilic an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2003-01, Vol.299 (5605), p.371-374
Main Authors: Lahann, Joerg, Mitragotri, Samir, Tran, Thanh-Nga, Kaido, Hiroki, Sundaram, Jagannathan, Choi, Insung S., Hoffer, Saskia, Somorjai, Gabor A., Langer, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Chemical Phenomena
Chemistry, Physical
Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Design
Electrical potential
Electricity
Electrochemistry
Electrodes
Energy
Esters
Exact sciences and technology
Gold
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
Infrared radiation
Inhalants
Materials research
Materials science
Molecular chains
Molecular Conformation
Molecular interactions
Molecular Structure
Molecules
Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
Palmitic Acids - chemistry
Physics
Solid-fluid interfaces
Solvents
Spectroscopy
Spectrum Analysis
Surface Properties
Surface tension
Surfaces and interfaces
thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties)
Thermodynamics
Wettability
Wetting
Wetting (Surface chemistry)
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Description
Summary:We report the design of surfaces that exhibit dynamic changes in interfacial properties, such as wettability, in response to an electrical potential. The change in wetting behavior was caused by surface-confined, single-layered molecules undergoing conformational transitions between a hydrophilic and a moderately hydrophobic state. Reversible conformational transitions were confirmed at a molecular level with the use of sum-frequency generation spectroscopy and at a macroscopic level with the use of contact angle measurements. This type of surface design enables amplification of molecular-level conformational transitions to macroscopic changes in surface properties without altering the chemical identity of the surface. Such reversibly switching surfaces may open previously unknown opportunities in interfacial engineering.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1078933