RAFT in-situ polymerization of ionic liquid modified carbon nanotubes for temperature responsive self-destruct dual functional devices

A self-destruct temperature sensor was developed via RAFT-polymerized polyionic liquids in-situ grafted onto CNTs. • The sensor enables active burning destruction of sensitive chip information under external threats. • It exhibits ultra-fast response and recovery (0.2 s) and exceptional long-term stability at 120 °C for 6.5 h. • Temperature-triggered self-destruction was completed within 3.7 s, including 1.4 s of actual combustion. Active transient electronic systems for hardware security need to detect external threats and trigger rapid energy release. However, conventional self-destruction devices use separate sensing and energetic components, complicating device integration. Therefore, we developed a temperature-responsive device based on carbon nanotubes grafted with an energetic poly(ionic liquid) (CNTs-g-PIL). The material was prepared by immobilizing HO-CTA on acyl-chloride-functionalized CNTs, followed by reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization of [VBIM]DCA from the CNT surface. The device showed average response and recovery times of 0.43 ± 0.06 s and 0.42 ± 0.07 s, respectively. Electrical activation at 40–100 V induced rapid combustion, with flame temperatures of 467.13–1375.91 °C. Coupling the device with a logic-control circuit enabled continuous monitoring and automatic activation at 50 °C. In tests with fully packaged commercial memory chips, combustion caused localized thermal damage and functional failure within 3.7 s, with a success rate of 91.7%. This work offers a compact strategy for integrating temperature monitoring and active hardware protection. Download: Download high-res image (228KB) Download: Download full-size image