Flexible biomimetic block copolymer composite for temperature and long-wave infrared sensing.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36763652.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.ade0423 and PMC identifier 9916982.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Biological compounds often provide clues to advance material designs. Replicating their molecular structure and functional motifs in artificial materials offers a blueprint for unprecedented functionalities. Here, we report a flexible biomimetic thermal sensing (BTS) polymer that is designed to emulate the ion transport dynamics of a plant cell wall component, pectin. Using a simple yet versatile synthetic procedure, we engineer the physicochemical properties of the polymer by inserting elastic fragments in a block copolymer architecture, making it flexible and stretchable. The thermal response of our flexible polymer outperforms current state-of-the-art temperature sensing materials, including vanadium oxide, by up to two orders of magnitude. Thermal sensors fabricated from these composites exhibit a sensitivity that exceeds 10 mK and operate stably between 15° and 55°C, even under repeated mechanical deformations. We demonstrate the use of our flexible BTS polymer in two-dimensional arrays for spatiotemporal temperature mapping and broadband infrared photodetection.