Polymers self-oscillating chains

Recently, surface modification techniques for polymer chains have progressed a great deal with the development of a new polymer synthesis method. In particular, surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) is one of the most effective modification methods for preparing a well-defined dense polymer brush structure, or polymer brush, on solid substrates. Thus, a self-oscillating polymer brush prepared by SI-ATRP can be expected to create a novel self-oscillating surface with autonomous function, which will lead to potential applications in transporting systems for nanomaterials of flow control in microfluidics. 

Self-Oscillating Polymer Chains as Nano-Oscillators ... 

Synchronization of Self-Oscillation in Polymer Chains and the Cross-Linked Network... 

Yoshida, R. Sakai, T. Ito, S. Yamaguchi, T. Self-oscillation of polymer chains with rhythmical soluble-insoluble changes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002,124, 8095-8098. 

The effects of mechanical deformation on the chemical reaction have been discussed for self-oscillating gels[198, 199]. The polymer network in the self-oscillating gel takes part in the BZ reaction, when immersed in an aqueous solution containing the reactants. It is because the catalyst is covalently bonded to the polymer chain. The difference between the self-oscillating gel and our study on wave-shape pattern emergence is that the latter in comparison with the former, has more dependence on the interaction between the chemical reaction and the mechanical response. Adsorption reaction alone would not bring out any pattern without the interaction with mechanical response, which is therefore fundamental to wave-shape pattern formation. 

Due to chain entanglements the self diffusion coefficient of the labeled macromolecules is very small (<10 mVs), and the transport of the photobleached tracers takes place predominantly through convection. If there is no slip at the polymer - prism interface, the fluorescence intensity decreases steadily with time as the concentration pattern is progressively tilted by the shear. If slip occurs, the concentration pattern is translated (and tilted) in front of the interference fringes creating a damped periodic oscillation of the fluorescence intensity with a period T = iA s, if Vs is the average slip velocity within the distance A from the prism surface. Measuring T and i yields directly Vj. 

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