Conformational analysis of single polymer chain in thin films by super-resolution fluorescence microscopy

超解像顕微鏡による薄膜中の高分子鎖のコンホメーション解析

青木 裕之  

Aoki, Hiroyuki

The conformation of a single poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chain in a spin-cast film by the super-resolution microscopy. The mean-square-root of the radius of gyration (Rg) were 48.7 and 54.0 nm in the spin-cast films prepared from the toluene and chloroform solutions, respectively. On the other hand, Rg in a bulk state (a thermally annealed 10-m-thick sample) was observed to be 43.1 nm. This indicates that the PMMA chain in the spin-cast film takes an expanded conformation compared to the unperturbed chain and that the chain dimension is dependent on the solvent quality. In a good solvent, the PMMA chain has an expanded conformation by the excluded volume effect. The polymer chain is frozen before the relaxation from an expanded conformation in a solution to an unperturbed one by the rapid solvent evaporation.