@article{BekirJelkenJungetal.2021,
  author    = {Bekir, Marek and Jelken, Joachim and Jung, Se-Hyeong and Pich, Andrij and Pacholski, Claudia and Kopyshev, Alexey and Santer, Svetlana},
  title     = {Dual responsiveness of microgels induced by single light stimulus},
  series = {Applied physics letters},
  volume    = {118},
  journal   = {Applied physics letters},
  number    = {9},
  publisher = {American Institute of Physics},
  address   = {Melville},
  issn      = {0003-6951},
  doi       = {10.1063/5.0036376},
  pages     = {6},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {We report on the multiple response of microgels triggered by a single optical stimulus. Under irradiation, the volume of the microgels is reversibly switched by more than 20 times. The irradiation initiates two different processes: photo-isomerization of the photo-sensitive surfactant, which forms a complex with the anionic microgel, rendering it photo-responsive; and local heating due to a thermo-plasmonic effect within the structured gold layer on which the microgel is deposited. The photo-responsivity is related to the reversible accommodation/release of the photo-sensitive surfactant depending on its photo-isomerization state, while the thermo-sensitivity is intrinsically built in. We show that under exposure to green light, the thermo-plasmonic effect generates a local hot spot in the gold layer, resulting in the shrinkage of the microgel. This process competes with the simultaneous photo-induced swelling. Depending on the position of the laser spot, the spatiotemporal control of reversible particle shrinking/swelling with a predefined extent on a per-second base can be implemented.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{SharmaBekirLomadzeetal.2022,
  author    = {Sharma, Anjali and Bekir, Marek and Lomadze, Nino and Jung, Se-Hyeong and Pich, Andrij and Santer, Svetlana},
  title     = {Generation of local diffusioosmotic flow by light responsive microgels},
  series = {Langmuir},
  volume    = {38},
  journal   = {Langmuir},
  number    = {20},
  publisher = {American Chemical Society},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0743-7463},
  doi       = {10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00259},
  pages     = {6343 -- 6351},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {Here we show that microgels trapped at a solid wall can issue liquid flow and transport over distances several times larger than the particle size. The microgel consists of cross-linked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNIPAM-AA) polymer chains loaded with cationic azobenzene-containing surfactant, which can assume either a trans-or a cis-state depending on the wavelength of the applied irradiation. The microgel, being a selective absorber of trans-isomers, responds by changing its volume under irradiation with light of appropriate wavelength at which the cis-isomers of the surfactant molecules diffuse out of the particle interior. Together with the change in particle size, the expelled cis-isomers form an excess of the concentration and subsequent gradient in osmotic pressure generating a halo of local light-driven diffusioosmotic (l-LDDO) flow. The direction and the strength of the l-LDDO depends on the intensity and irradiation wavelength, as well as on the amount of surfactant absorbed by the microgel. The flow pattern around a microgel is directed radially outward and can be maintained quasi-indefinitely under exposure to blue light when the trans-/cis-ratio is 2/1, establishing a photostationary state. Irradiation with UV light, on the other hand, generates a radially transient flow pattern, which inverts from inward to outward over time at low intensities. By measuring the displacement of tracer particles around neutral microgels during a temperature-induced collapse, we can exclude that a change in particle shape itself causes the flow, i.e., just by expulsion or uptake of water. Ultimately, it is its ability to selectively absorb two isomers of photosensitive surfactant under different irradiation conditions that leads to an effective pumping caused by a self-induced diffusioosmotic flow.},
  language  = {en}
}