Interfacial Engineering of Soft Matter Substrates by Solid-State Polymer Adsorption

Polymer coating to substrates alters surface chemistry and imparts bulk material functionalities with a minute thickness, even in nanoscale. Specific surface modification of a substate usually requires an active substrate that, e.g., undergoes a chemical reaction with the modifying species. Here, we present a generic method for surface modification, namely, solid-state adsorption, occurring purely by entropic strive. Formed by heating above the melting point or glass transition and subsequent rinsing of the excess polymer, the emerging ultrathin (