On Electropolymerized Fingerprints and their Potential for Identification and Encryption

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Baron, Antoine, Brulin, Luc, Scholaert, Corentin, Coffinier, Yannick, Alibart, Fabien, Pecqueur, Sébastien
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Baron, Antoine
Brulin, Luc
Scholaert, Corentin
Coffinier, Yannick
Alibart, Fabien
Pecqueur, Sébastien
author_facet Baron, Antoine
Brulin, Luc
Scholaert, Corentin
Coffinier, Yannick
Alibart, Fabien
Pecqueur, Sébastien
contents While human technology is ruled by determinism, biological systems exploit a subtle balance of control and stochasticity. This balance, evident in the morphogenesis of textural patterns imprinted on leaves, fur or skin can help hierarchize organisms both as a representative of their species and as unique individuals. In this study, we identified that, by exploiting electrochemistry, it is possible to generate such versatile but specific textures, to imprint patterns of a conducting polymer on a conducting substrate. It is shown that the 1D morphogenesis of conducting polymer dendrites on wires translates, on 2D surfaces, as highly heterogeneous coatings of dark spots, rosettes or marbled patterns. Despite their inherent stochasticity, these patterns are characteristic of the physical conditions they grew in, and particularly of the chemical content of the electroactive solution used for their electropolymerization. A statistical study demonstrates that these patterns could be used as fingerprints to physically tag the identity of a solution within a specific class. By the identification of a new electrochemical process which allows generating physical fingerprints with optical, electrical and chemical contrast on an electrode, this research paves the way toward a disruptive low-cost technology which could allow any end-user to generate personal tags on a glass slide or on a micro-chip, to engrave physically-encrypted personal information for various applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_04599
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On Electropolymerized Fingerprints and their Potential for Identification and Encryption
Baron, Antoine
Brulin, Luc
Scholaert, Corentin
Coffinier, Yannick
Alibart, Fabien
Pecqueur, Sébastien
Chemical Physics
While human technology is ruled by determinism, biological systems exploit a subtle balance of control and stochasticity. This balance, evident in the morphogenesis of textural patterns imprinted on leaves, fur or skin can help hierarchize organisms both as a representative of their species and as unique individuals. In this study, we identified that, by exploiting electrochemistry, it is possible to generate such versatile but specific textures, to imprint patterns of a conducting polymer on a conducting substrate. It is shown that the 1D morphogenesis of conducting polymer dendrites on wires translates, on 2D surfaces, as highly heterogeneous coatings of dark spots, rosettes or marbled patterns. Despite their inherent stochasticity, these patterns are characteristic of the physical conditions they grew in, and particularly of the chemical content of the electroactive solution used for their electropolymerization. A statistical study demonstrates that these patterns could be used as fingerprints to physically tag the identity of a solution within a specific class. By the identification of a new electrochemical process which allows generating physical fingerprints with optical, electrical and chemical contrast on an electrode, this research paves the way toward a disruptive low-cost technology which could allow any end-user to generate personal tags on a glass slide or on a micro-chip, to engrave physically-encrypted personal information for various applications.
title On Electropolymerized Fingerprints and their Potential for Identification and Encryption
topic Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.04599