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Real‐Time Imaging of the Coil‐Globule Transition of Single Adsorbed Poly(2‐vinylpyridine) Molecules
Author(s) -
Gallyamov Marat O.,
Khokhlov Alexei R.,
Möller Martin
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200400602
Subject(s) - mica , macromolecule , adsorption , molecule , polymer , vapours , water vapor , materials science , chemical engineering , chemistry , chemical physics , organic chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , neuroscience , engineering , biology
Summary: We applied scanning force microscopy to study, in real time, the mobility and reorganisation of single poly(2‐vinylpyridine) molecules that were adsorbed on mica and exposed to vapours of ethanol or water. The macromolecules adopted a compact globular conformation in ethanol‐saturated vapour and extended to a surface‐bound two‐dimensional coil in water‐saturated vapour. Hence, reversible coil‐to‐globule conformational transitions of flexible polymer chains were directly visualized with unique molecular resolution.Left: individual P2VP molecules on mica compacted by exposure to ethanol vapour, right: the same macromolecules extended in water vapour.