1. Could you explain the significance of your article to the non-specialist? 

Surface-initiated polymer brushes have received considerable attention over the past 5-10 years as a means to modify surfaces with chemically and mechanically robust thin polymer films. With this review, we aim to highlight some of the recent developments in this field, with an emphasis on some of the unique properties of polymer brushes, which arise from the fact that polymers rather than small molecules are attached to a surface in very high grafting densities. 

2. What has motivated you to conduct this work? 

Switchable surface properties could be important for many different applications, including sensors and actuators, and our recent work on polyelectrolyte has opened new synthetic pathways to obtaining surfaces with properties that can be controlled over a very wide range in quite straightforward ways, while at the same time allowing different types of triggers (including electrical) to be used for switching. 

3. Where do you see this work developing in the future? 

Polymer brushes could play a major role in new developments in soft nanotechnology, providing an interface between biology and inorganic semiconductor-based devices. At the same time, they could play active parts in such devices since they could provide a means to 'power' devices at the submicron level, by converting chemical energy into mechanical forces. 

4. Are there any particular challenges facing future research in this area? 

More control over the internal architecture is needed, requiring significant contributions from synthetic polymer chemists. However, ultimately, polymer brushes need to be incorporated into actual devices and important questions on how to efficiently control polymer brush transitions and to translate electrical stimuli into directed motion will require collaboration between physicists, chemists and engineers.