Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity01:21

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity

4.3K
Unlike ionic or small covalent molecules, polymers do not form crystalline solids due to the diffusion limitations of their long-chain structures. However, polymers contain microscopic crystalline domains separated by amorphous domains.
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
4.3K
Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity01:26

Polymer Classification: Stereospecificity

3.4K
Polymerization generates chiral centers along the entire backbone of a polymer chain. Accordingly, the stereochemistry of the substituent group has a significant effect on polymer properties. Polymers formed from monosubstituted alkene monomers feature chiral carbons at every alternate position in the polymer backbone. Relative to the predominant orientation of substituents at the adjacent chiral carbons, the polymer can exist in three different configurations: isotactic, syndiotactic, and...
3.4K
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism00:57

Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

3.1K
The cationic polymerization mechanism consists of three steps: initiation, propagation, and termination. In the initiation step of the polymerization process, the π bond of a monomer gets protonated by the Lewis acid catalyst, which is formed from boron trifluoride and water. The protonation of the π bond generates a carbocation stabilized by the electron‐donating group. In the propagation step, the π bond of the second monomer acts as a nucleophile and attacks the...
3.1K
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism01:04

Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism

2.6K
The mechanism for anionic chain-growth polymerization involves initiation, propagation, and termination steps. In the initiation step, a nucleophilic anion, such as butyl lithium, initiates the polymerization process by attacking the π bond of the vinylic monomer. As a result, a carbanion, stabilized by the electron‐withdrawing group, is generated. The resulting carbanion acts as a Michael donor in the propagation step and attacks the second vinylic monomer, which acts as a Michael...
2.6K
Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview01:20

Anionic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Overview

2.8K
The polymerization process that involves carbanion as an intermediate is called anionic polymerization. It is also a type of addition or chain-growth polymerization. Anionic polymerization gets initiated by a strong nucleophile such as an organolithium or a Grignard reagent. The most commonly used initiator for anionic polymerization is butyl lithium. Monomers involved in anionic polymerization must possess a vinyl group bonded to one or two electron-withdrawing groups. For instance,...
2.8K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Estimation of local variation in Young's modulus over a gold nanocontact using microscopic nanomechanical measurement method.

Nanotechnology·2024
Same author

On-surface polymerization reactions of dibrominated hexaphenylbenzene influenced by densely packed self-assembly.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2024
Same author

Peculiar Atomic Bond Nature in Platinum Monatomic Chains.

Nano letters·2021
Same author

Vibrations of a molecule in an external force field.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2018
Same author

Quasi-stabilized hydration layers on muscovite mica under a thin water film grown from humid air.

Scientific reports·2017

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
06:26

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Published on: May 15, 2017

7.7K

Kinetically Imprinted In-Plane Orientational Ordering of Flexible Polymer Chain at a Solid-Liquid Interface.

Hiroaki Ooe1, Toyoko Arai2

  • 1Department of Science, School of Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0027, Japan.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|April 4, 2026
PubMed
Summary

Flexible polymer molecules, like polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), can form ordered monolayers at interfaces under specific solvent conditions. This study reveals a metastable, striped PDMS monolayer on graphite, challenging previous assumptions about polymer ordering.

More Related Videos

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators
12:04

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators

Published on: May 20, 2018

9.6K
Methods for the Self-integration of Megamolecular Biopolymers on the Drying Air-LC Interface
07:06

Methods for the Self-integration of Megamolecular Biopolymers on the Drying Air-LC Interface

Published on: April 7, 2017

6.5K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Apr 6, 2026

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets
06:26

Orientational Transition in a Liquid Crystal Triggered by the Thermodynamic Growth of Interfacial Wetting Sheets

Published on: May 15, 2017

7.7K
Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators
12:04

Microfluidic Preparation of Liquid Crystalline Elastomer Actuators

Published on: May 20, 2018

9.6K
Methods for the Self-integration of Megamolecular Biopolymers on the Drying Air-LC Interface
07:06

Methods for the Self-integration of Megamolecular Biopolymers on the Drying Air-LC Interface

Published on: April 7, 2017

6.5K

Area of Science:

  • Polymer Science
  • Surface Science
  • Materials Science

Background:

  • Flexible, nonpolar polymers typically lack lateral molecular order at solid-liquid interfaces due to high conformational entropy.
  • Previous studies focused on conditions that do not favor such ordering, leading to a general assumption of impossibility.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the interfacial adsorption structure of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) under poor solvent conditions.
  • To challenge the notion that flexible polymers cannot form ordered structures at solid-liquid interfaces.

Main Methods:

  • Frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) was used to probe the adsorption structure.
  • Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was studied at the interface with N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG).

Main Results:

  • A substrate-parallel PDMS monolayer formed, extending laterally over hundreds of nanometers.
  • A 1D stripe pattern with a periodicity of 0.80 ± 0.08 nm was observed within the monolayer.
  • The stripe periodicity showed commensurability with the HOPG substrate lattice, indicating orientational alignment.

Conclusions:

  • Flexible polymers can form ordered monolayers at interfaces under specific, kinetically controlled conditions (poor solvent).
  • The observed PDMS monolayer is a metastable phase, imprinted during nanodroplet flattening, not a thermodynamically stable state.
  • Interfacial confinement and specific solvent conditions are key to achieving lateral molecular order in flexible polymers.