Patent 7648739 was granted and assigned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology on January, 2010 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A substrate having a surface with reversibly switchable properties. The surface comprises a nanolayer of a material that switches from a first conformation state to a second conformation state when an external stimulus is applied. When the nanolayer is in the first conformation state, the surface is characterized by a first property, and when the nanolayer is in the second conformation state, the surface is characterized by a second property.