New article published: Thermally Activated Swelling and Wetting Transition of Frozen Polymer Brushes: a New Concept for Surface Functionalization

Luciana Buonaiuto, Sander Reuvekamp, Billura Shakhayeva_, Enqing Liu, Franziska Neuhaus, Björn Braunschweig, Sissi de Beer, Frieder Mugele^*

 A novel approach is introduced that leverages polymer phase transitions to modulate brush behavior. The oleophilic bottle brush system exhibits two distinct melting transitions—bulk and surface—enabling a two-stage swelling and wetting transition. These transitions can be controlled globally, or locally with a focused laser beam, offering a new strategy for designing adaptive surfaces based on intrinsic polymer properties. 

https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202502173