| Abstract |
Molecular scale interactions at artificial and naturally occurring responsive surfaces, e.g. the cell membrane, play a crucial rolein many biological and biomedical processes. Responsive surfaces with molecular level control are considered as key to manycrucial problems in nanobiotechnology. We aim at contributing to the development of such surfaces starting from afundamental understanding of structure-property relationships in advanced nanomaterials and processes from the molecularscale. Specifically we propose to investigate the translation of external stimuli into forces in single macromolecules by meansof atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements for two classes of stimuli-responsive polymers, i.e. unique redox-activeorganometallic poly(ferrocenylsilanes) and elastin-based biopolymers. The communication with single molecules occurs viaconformational/dimensional changes of these polymers under stress via changes in chain torsional potential energy landscapeand thus variations in the corresponding macromolecular characteristic ratio. These occur upon redox stimulation or uponchanges in e.g. temperature or pH. The challenging project will be tackled in a rational manner (control instead of trial anderror) by depositing molecules individually at precisely defined positions using scanning probe lithography. Subsequently, thenanomechanical properties of an ensemble of individually addressable molecules will be probed molecule for molecule bysingle molecule force spectroscopy, hence avoiding a convolution of data of many molecules. This approach will also beutilized to selectively pick up individual macromolecules by chemically functionalized tips, followed by AFM measurements thataim at unraveling the effects of several external stimuli on the macromolecules response. Based on the results, responsivesurfaces with molecular level control can be designed for applications in the areas of (bio)sensors, drug delivery,nano/microfluidics, and smart coatings.
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