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Updated: Jul 25, 2026

Synthesis of Cyclic Polymers and Characterization of Their Diffusive Motion in the Melt State at the Single Molecule Level
Published on: September 26, 2016
Self-oscillation of polymer chains with rhythmical soluble-insoluble changes
Ryo Yoshida1, Takamasa Sakai, Shoji Ito
1Department of Materials Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. yoshida@bmw.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Abstract:
Self-oscillation of polymer chains in an aqueous solution has been achieved. The ruthenium catalyst for the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was polymerized by using N-isopropylacrylamide and dissolved into the solution containing the BZ substrates. Periodical soluble-insoluble changes of the polymer chain were spontaneously induced by the BZ reaction. The conformational oscillations of the polymer were measured as the optical transmittance changes of the solution. This is the first report that rhythmical and reversible soluble-insoluble changes of polymer chains are realized under constant and homogeneous conditions. The transducing system from chemical energy of the BZ reaction to optical information has been constructed.
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