TY - JOUR
T1 - Direct observation of polyelectrolyte brushes under wet and dry conditions by atmospheric scanning electron microscopy
AU - Higuchi, Takeshi
AU - Konyuba, Yuji
AU - Nishiyama, Hidetoshi
AU - Suga, Mitsuo
AU - Takahara, Atsushi
AU - Jinnai, Hiroshi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Author(s).
PY - 2016/4
Y1 - 2016/4
N2 - Polyelectrolyte brushes are polyelectrolyte polymers with one end fixed to a substrate. In this study, direct nano-scale visualization of polyelectrolyte brushes was carried out under 'aqueous conditions' by atmospheric scanning electron microscopy. The thickness of the polyelectrolyte brush layer was measured under both dry and aqueous conditions, experimentally confirming the swollen state of the brushes. These experimental findings qualitatively agreed with the results from previous neutron reflectivity experiments using similar polyelectrolyte brushes. Such direct visualization of polymer brushes in real space opens up a new route for better understanding their surface properties, such as friction, adhesion and wettability.
AB - Polyelectrolyte brushes are polyelectrolyte polymers with one end fixed to a substrate. In this study, direct nano-scale visualization of polyelectrolyte brushes was carried out under 'aqueous conditions' by atmospheric scanning electron microscopy. The thickness of the polyelectrolyte brush layer was measured under both dry and aqueous conditions, experimentally confirming the swollen state of the brushes. These experimental findings qualitatively agreed with the results from previous neutron reflectivity experiments using similar polyelectrolyte brushes. Such direct visualization of polymer brushes in real space opens up a new route for better understanding their surface properties, such as friction, adhesion and wettability.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85012268767&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85012268767&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/jmicro/dfv357
DO - 10.1093/jmicro/dfv357
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85012268767
SN - 2050-5698
VL - 65
SP - 139
EP - 144
JO - Microscopy (Oxford, England)
JF - Microscopy (Oxford, England)
IS - 2
ER -