Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1164270 | Analytica Chimica Acta | 2015 | 4 Pages |
•Our method can be used for the estimation of polymer concentration.•We obtained Raman signals from polymer-rich domain formed by optical tweezers.•We estimated the polymer concentration to be ca. 30 mM (corresponding to 31 wt%).•Optical tweezers can control the water content in polymer-rich domain.
The paper demonstrates that a confocal Raman microspectroscope combined with optical tweezers is a promising technique to estimate polymer concentration in polymer-rich domain in phase-separated-aqueous polymer solution. The sample polymer is poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) that is well-known as a representative thermo-responsive polymer. Optical tweezers can selectively trap the polymer-rich domain at the focal point in non-contact and non-intrusive modes. Such situation allows us to determine polymer concentration in the domain, which has been unclear due to a lack of appropriate analytical technique. It is applicable for a variety of other thermo-responsive polymers.
Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide