Sharp and fast: Sensors and switches based on polymer brushes with adsorption-active minority chains

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel polymer brush-based sensor and switch design that exhibits rapid, sharp conformational transitions triggered by small temperature changes, supported by analytical and simulation studies.

Contribution

It provides an analytical framework and simulation validation for a new class of fast, temperature-sensitive polymer sensors and switches based on minority chain conformational changes.

Findings

Transitions occur with temperature changes of about ten degrees

Switching response time is less than a second

Theoretical predictions align with simulation results

Abstract

We propose a design for polymer-based sensors and switches with sharp switching transition and fast response time. The switching mechanism involves a radical change in the conformations of adsorption-active minority chains in a brush. Such transitions can be induced by a temperature change of only about ten degrees, and the characteristic time of the conformational change is less than a second. We present an analytical theory for these switches and support it by self-consistent field calculations and Brownian dynamics simulations.