Flexible biomimetic block copolymer composite for temperature and long-wave infrared sensing
Tae Hyun Kim, Zhun Zhou, Yeong Suk Choi, Vincenzo Costanza, Linghui Wang, Joong Hwan Bahng, Nicholas J. Higdon, Youngjun Yun, Hyunbum Kang, Sunghan Kim, Chiara Daraio
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.