Light-Addressable Smart Nanostructures via Resonant Nanoheating

Victor Tabouillot; Douglas Murad; Rahul Kumar; Paula L. Lalaguna; Maryam Hajji; Affar Karimullah; Nikolaj Gadegaard; Aurélie Malfait; Patrice Woisel; Graeme Cooke; Malcolm Kadodwala

arXiv · 2508.06215

Light-Addressable Smart Nanostructures via Resonant Nanoheating

Victor Tabouillot·Douglas Murad·Rahul Kumar·Paula L. Lalaguna·Maryam Hajji·Affar Karimullah·Nikolaj Gadegaard·Aurélie Malfait·Patrice Woisel·Graeme Cooke·Malcolm Kadodwala

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Abstract

Selective spatial control of chemical reactions at the level of individual nanostructures remains a significant challenge. We introduce a light-activated system that combines plasmonic gold nanorods with a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) monolayer to gate surface reactivity based on each rod's geometry under optical illumination. Laser excitation tuned to a rod's plasmon resonance and polarization collapses the polymer into a compact shell on that rod, blocking reactive head groups and creating a long-lived, kinetically trapped inert state stable for days. During this interval, orthogonal chemical transformations can be performed on adjacent, unilluminated rods without interference. Subsequent diffusion-limited rehydration restores the swollen brush conformation and renews surface activity, effectively erasing the chemical memory. Numerical simulations based on real nanorod geometries confirm that switching selectivity follows the rods' absorption profiles. This mask-free, fully reversible strategy turns passive polymer films into dynamic chemical interfaces, offering a route to high-resolution patterning and on-demand control of nanoscale reactions for electronic and sensing applications.

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Victor Tabouillot, Douglas Murad, Rahul Kumar, Paula L. Lalaguna, Maryam Hajji, Affar Karimullah, Nikolaj Gadegaard, Aurélie Malfait, Patrice Woisel, Graeme Cooke, Malcolm Kadodwala. 2025-08-08. Light-Addressable Smart Nanostructures via Resonant Nanoheating. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.06215

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