| Abstract
| - The electrochemical gate based on a chemical signal-responsive membrane was assembled on a Au electrodesurface. The polyelectrolyte gel membrane was capable to bind cholesterol because of the hydrogen bondingbetween cholesterol and the polymer backbone resulting in the gel swelling. The membrane channels werereversibly closed and opened upon addition and washing out cholesterol, respectively. Thus, the electrochemicalprocess of a soluble redox probe, [Fe(CN)6]3-/4-, at the membrane-modified electrode was reversibly switched“on−off” by the cyclic addition and washing out cholesterol. The electrochemical reaction was also tuned bythe variation of the concentration of the added cholesterol that controlled the extent of the channels closing.The switchable and tuneable operation of the chemically controlled electrochemical gate was characterizedby Faradaic impedance spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, indicating that the extent of the poresopening and closing is controlled by the concentration of the membrane-associated cholesterol. The chemical-responsive electrochemical gate was suggested to be a part of future biochemical/electrochemical systemswith logic operations.
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