Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Engineering Molecular Recognition with Bio-mimetic Polymers on Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: January 10, 2017
Vapor sensing characteristics of nanoelectromechanical chemical sensors functionalized using surface-initiated
Heather C McCaig1, Ed Myers, Nathan S Lewis
1Kavli Nanoscience Institute and Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
Abstract:
Surface-initiated polymerization has been used to grow thick, uniform poly(methyl methacrylate) films on nanocantilever sensors. Cantilevers with these coatings yielded significantly greater sensitivity relative to bare devices as well as relative to devices that had been coated with drop-cast polymer films. The devices with surface-initiated polymer films also demonstrated high selectivity toward polar analytes. Surface-initiated polymerization can therefore provide a straightforward, reproducible method for large-scale functionalization of nanosensors.
