Observation Examples of Polymers

Observation of Temperature-Responsive Cell Cultureware Surface

In pure water
Temperature 26 °C

In pure water
Temperature 40 °C

The high‒resolution observation of temperature-responsive cell cultureware in water was performed.
A temperature responsive polymer was immobilized to the cultureware surface and it was found that the surface, which was flat at 26 °C, became granulated (in the range of several tens of nanometers) when warmed to 40 °C. This morphological change is thought to be due to a reversible change in the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the polymer at 32 °C. Utilizing this property enables the attachment and detachment of cells to be controlled. It is one of the features of the scanning probe microscope (SPM) that observations can be made while immersed in water and the temperature changed.

(Samples provided by: Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.)