FRET-Integrated Polymer Brushes for Spatially-Resolved Sensing of Changes in Polymer Conformation

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 May 12. doi: 10.1002/anie.202104204. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTPolymer brush surfaces that alter their physical properties in response to chemical stimuli have the capacity to be used as new surface-based sensing materials. For such surfaces, detecting the polymer conformation is key to their sensing capabilities. Herein, we report on FRET-integrated ultrathin (< 70 nm) polymer brush surfaces that exhibit stimuli-dependent FRET with changing brush conformation. Poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) polymers were chosen due their exceptional sensitivity to liquid mixture compositions and their ability to be assembled into well-defined polymer brushes. The brush transitions were used to optically sense changes in liquid mixture compositions with high spatial resolution (10s of μm), where the FRET-coupling allowed for non-invasive observation of brush transitions around complex interfaces with real-time sensing of the liquid environment. Our methods have the potential to be leveraged towards greater surface-based sensing capabilities at intricate interfaces.PMID:33979032 | DOI:10.1002/anie.202104204
Source: Angewandte Chemie - Category: Chemistry Authors: Source Type: research