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Security-Enhanced 3D Data Encryption Using a Degradable pH-Responsive Hydrogel

Authors :
Hongjing Wen
Bin Wang
Hongbo Zhu
Shiyu Wu
Xiaoxuan Xu
Xiangping Li
Yaoyu Cao
Source :
Nanomaterials, Vol 11, Iss 7, p 1744 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2021.

Abstract

Based on degradable pH-responsive hydrogel, we report on an enhanced three-dimensional data encryption security technique in which a pH value is used for information manipulation. Featuring three types of states upon the pH value variation, namely, shrinkage, expansion and degradation, the hydrogel renders a limited pH value window as the “key” for information decryption. The pH-dependent shrinkage-to-expansion conversion of the hydrogel leads to a threshold pH value for retrieving the recorded data, whilst the degradability of the hydrogel, which can be tuned by adjusting the composition ratio of PEGDA/AAc, gives rise to a second threshold pH value for irreversibly sabotaging the retrieved data. Pre-doping silver ions in the hydrogel facilitates explicit recording and reading of binary data in forms of three-dimensional silver patterns through photoreduction and scattering, respectively, with a femtosecond laser. By accurately matching the vertical spacing of the encoded silver nanopatterns with the diffraction-limited focal depth of the decryption microscope, we can tune the pH value to encrypt and retrieve information recorded in layers and set a critical pH value to smash encoded information, which proves a highly secured 3D data encoding protocol. This strategy can effectively enrich data encryption techniques, vastly enhancing data security within unattained chemical dimensions.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20794991
Volume :
11
Issue :
7
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Nanomaterials
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3b27ca3702944b30ae113b1e6e01dfbc
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071744