Cooperativity in a Chemomechanical Polymer: A Chemically Induced Macroscopic Logic Gate

Abstract

Incorporating supramolecular binding sites into flexible polymers allows the translation of selective molecular recognition into large macroscopic motions. The macroscopic dimension changes depend dramatically on the presence of two effector compounds in the surrounding medium, with either negative or with positive cooperativity. A macroscopic dimension change occurs if two different effectors are present within a narrow concentration range, thus providing, for the first time, chemically induced macroscopic XOR or AND logic gates.