Polymer-Encapsulated Reverse Micelles: A Composite Material Design for the Optical Detection of Weak Magnetic Fields

Certain supramolecular assemblies exhibit magnetic-field dependent chemistry only in solution. When incorporated into optically clear polymer-encapsulated reverse micelles composite materials (PERMs), these assemblies experience a fluid nanoenvironment allowing their magnetic field-dependent chemistry. These macroscopically robust solid PERMs give optical responses to magnetic fields of <50 mT, analogous to the assembly's behavior in solution.