Atomic Force Microscopy for the Characterization of Dendritic Polymers and Assemblies

Atomic Force Microscopy for the Characterization of Dendritic Polymers and Assemblies 

With these emerging applications, there is a critical need for analytical techniques that will provide insights to fundamental questions concerning dendrimer characteristics and properties (e.g. their dimensions, uniformity of size, shape and degree of rigidity, etc.) [8-10], atomic force microscopy (AFM) offers this 

Dendrimers and Other Dendritic Polymers. Edited by Jean M. J. Frechet and Donald A. Tomalia 2001 John Wiley Sons Ltd 

This chapter describes the use of AFM as a methodology for characterizing dendritic macromolecules and their self-assembled films. Systematic AFM studies of the PAMAM dendrimers properties (e.g. their size, shape, rigidity, packing textures and molecular weight calculations) will be fully addressed in this chapter. 

With the development of AFM, the capability of imaging at the molecular level allows the surface profile of each molecule to be obtained from which the molecular volume of individual molecules can be obtained. AFM has become one of the most powerful instruments for use in the characterization of surfaces and materials [16]. 

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