Amplification of Changes of a Thin Film's Macromolecular Structure into Macroscopic Reaction−Diffusion Patterns

A reaction−diffusion process induced from a micronetwork geometry amplifies changes in the molecular structure of a thin gel film into macroscopic readout patterns. When the gel undergoes a helix-to-coil phase transition, the patterns formed by RD switch from symmetry-broken to symmetric ones. Theoretical analysis explains how the system reconfigures internally in response to mass transfer between the applied network and the probed film.