Abstract
It has been theoretically predicted that a polymer chain in poor solvent conditions undergoes a phase transition from a collapsed globule to a stretched coil. In this paper, we present force-distance curves, obtained by atomic force microscopy (A-FM), showing the characteristic force-plateau associated with this transition. We show that the magnitude of the force depends on the environment (interfacial energy) that the stretched coil experiences when it is pulled-out as it is predicted by the theory.
| Translated title of the contribution | Pulling single chains out of a collapsed polymer monolayer in bad-solvent conditions |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Pages (from-to) | 49 - 53 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Material Research Society Symposium Proceedings |
| Volume | 734 |
| Issue number | Symposia A/B |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |