Nanoscale brushes: how to build a smart surface coating.
Via computer simulations, we demonstrate how a densely grafted layer of polymers, a brush, could be turned into an efficient switch through chemical modification of some of its end monomers. In this way, a surface coating with reversibly switchable properties can be constructed. We analyze the fundamental physical principle behind its function, a recently discovered surface instability, and demonstrate that the combination of a high grafting density, an inflated end-group size, and a high degree of monodispersity is a condition for an optimal functionality of the switch.
Merlitz
Holger
H
Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, People's Republic of China. merlitz@gmx.de
He
Gui-Li
GL
Wu
Chen-Xu
CX
Sommer
Jens-Uwe
JU