Real-Time Visualization of Single Polymer Conformational Change in the Bulk State during Mechanical Deformation

Ruiqi Xiao, Subhadeep Pal, Christopher P. Rademacher, Jie Chen, Qifeng Wang, Wei Chen, Kenneth R. Shull, Sinan Keten, Muzhou Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Although polymers are most often used within bulk materials, investigating their conformations and dynamics has long been a challenging endeavor in this configuration, particularly under external forces. Addressing this, we utilize single-molecule localization microscopy as a powerful imaging tool to visualize bottlebrush poly(n-butyl acrylate) chains in the bulk state under spherical indentation, quantitatively describing changes in behavior of single polymer chains. We compare these experiments to displacement fields determined analytically and confirmed through finite element analysis. This study pioneers visualizing polymer conformational changes in their native environment in situ, offering transformative insights into polymer behavior and dynamics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number148101
JournalPhysical review letters
Volume134
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 11 2025

Funding

Access to a supercomputing grant from the Quest High-Performance-Computing System at the Northwestern University is acknowledged. R.\u2009X. and M.\u2009W. acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation (DMR-1945249) for support of this work. M.\u2009W. acknowledges support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. S.\u2009P. acknowledges the support from the International Institute for Nanotechnology at the Northwestern University. W.\u2009C., K.\u2009R.\u2009S., and S.\u2009K. were supported by the National Science Foundation\u2019s MRSEC program (DMR-2308691) at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University. The authors thank Qingsong Liu and Professor Jeffrey J. Richards for their assistance in collecting rheology data, and Dr. Tong Wang and Professor John M. Torkelson for their assistance in collecting ellipsometry data.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Real-Time Visualization of Single Polymer Conformational Change in the Bulk State during Mechanical Deformation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this