Functional polymers: scanning force microscopy insights.
Scanning force microscopy (SFM) and related techniques make it possible to visualize polymer systems with a molecular resolution. Beyond imaging, they also enable the unveiling of a variety of (dynamic) physico-chemical properties of both isolated polymer chains and their supramolecular architectures, including structural, mechanical and electronic properties. This article reviews recent progress in the use of SFM on polymers, with a particular emphasis on the mechanical properties of copolymers and single polymer chains, as well as on the bottom-up fabrication of supramolecular polymeric (helical) nanostructures in particular based upon pi-conjugated macromolecules as building blocks for nanoelectronics. Through a detailed understanding of the polymer behavior, we propose solutions for the generation of organic functional (nano)systems.
Samorì
Paolo
P
Istituto per la Sintesi Organica e la Fotoreattività, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, via Gobetti, 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy. samori@isof.cnr.it
Surin
Mathieu
M
Palermo
Vincenzo
V
Lazzaroni
Roberto
R
Leclère
Philippe
P