Electroresponsive Weak Polyelectrolyte Brushes

We explored the effect of an applied electric field on molecular conformation two weak polyelectrolytes grafted gold electrodes?poly(acrylic acid) and polybase poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)?by combining a quartz crystal microbalance with electrochemical setup. Our results indicate that different mechanisms influence response to externally potential difference, including modification local pH by oxygen reduction electrostatic interaction between metallic electrode charged monomers ions in solution. evidence fine control polymer can be readily obtained at low potentials, opening pathways for precise, localized surface properties. However, these applications require considering history-dependent behavior polyelectrolyte brushes, hysteresis response, reactions driven changes.