APS March Meeting 2022
Volume 67, Number 3
Monday–Friday, March 14–18, 2022;
Chicago
Session T17: Optics and Photonics in Polymers and Soft Matter I
11:30 AM–2:30 PM,
Thursday, March 17, 2022
Room: McCormick Place W-184BC
Sponsoring
Units:
DPOLY DSOFT DAMOP
Chair: Chaitanya Ullal, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Abstract: T17.00002 : Informed Design of Polymer-Selective Nanoprobes for Optical Super-Resolution Microscopy*
12:06 PM–12:18 PM
Abstract
Presenter:
Dana V Chapman
(Cornell University)
Authors:
Dana V Chapman
(Cornell University)
Ulrich Wiesner
(Cornell University)
Optical super-resolution microscopy (OSRM) facilitates optical imaging below the diffraction limit of light, thus enabling spatial characterization on the nanoscale. OSRM provides complementary information to conventional polymer characterization tools like electron and scanning-probe microscopies, such as in-situ subsurface probing and noninvasive chemical distinction. Thus far, OSRM imaging of condensed-state systems has relied almost exclusively on fluorophores designed for biological systems (i.e., largely aqueous environments). To translate the advantages of OSRM to polymer science, it is desirable to develop fluorescent probes—here, ultrasmall core–shell nanoparticles called aluminosilicate Cornell prime (aC’) dots—that orthogonally label polymer components in non-aqueous environments. We employ both active chemical and passive physical compatibilization strategies to promote selective aC’ dot targeting of specific polymer nanodomains in model block copolymer (BCP) thin films. This approach realizes nanoscale chemical distinction of different blocks simultaneously in one system using stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM). Self-assembled BCPs exhibit densely contiguous features on the order of 10s of nanometers, rendering probe specificity and performance all the more important. Multifunctional aC’ dots surmount this barrier by enhancing the photophysical properties of encapsulated organic dyes, increasing photon output while maintaining a low duty cycle. That is, tuning both the core and shell of our aC’ dots enables enhanced resolution in STORM while maintaining a high degree of chemical selectivity, even for self-assembly in different organic solvents. This research lays the groundwork for future studies elucidating compositional and behavioral relationships in polymer systems, using complementary insights from OSRM to strengthen the scientific community’s understanding of condensed-state systems.
*U.S. DOE (DE-SC0010560), NSF (DGE-1650441)