Surface plasmon & visible light for polymer functionalization of mesopores and manipulation of ionic permselectivity.

The near-field of surface plasmons is locally confined to nanometer dimensions. Here, we use surface plasmons to initiate polymer-functionalization of mesoporous silica films allowing subsequent ionic permselectivity gating based on polymer charge. We expect this functionalization approach to open a new dimension of functional miniaturization e.g. in nanofluidics.