title: Unveiling thermal transitions of polymers in subnanometre pores.
abstract: The thermal transitions of confined polymers are important for the application of polymers in molecular scale devices and advanced nanotechnology. However, thermal transitions of ultrathin polymer assemblies confined in subnanometre spaces are poorly understood. In this study, we show that incorporation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) into nanochannels of porous coordination polymers (PCPs) enabled observation of thermal transitions of the chain assemblies by differential scanning calorimetry. The pore size and surface functionality of PCPs can be tailored to study the transition behaviour of confined polymers. The transition temperature of PEG in PCPs was determined by manipulating the pore size and the pore-polymer interactions. It is also striking that the transition temperature of the confined PEG decreased as the molecular weight of PEG increased.
authors.affiliation: Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Katsura, Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan. uemura@sbchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yanai
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Numaguchi
authors.forename: Minoru T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagaoka
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
mesh_terms: D008958:Models, Molecular; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D044366:Transition Temperature
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols