Superresolution Microscopy

Superresolution Microscopy of soft polymeric materials: packing and rheology of pNIPAM microgels.

Over the last years we have developed and applied single molecule localization microscopy (dSTORM superresolution) to image bulk polymeric systems over large, micron scale, volumes in situ with an optical resolution down to 30 nanometers. We have successfully demonstrated two-color imaging of polymer microgels in the bulk and unraveled the different stages of compression and interpenetration as the spongy particle are packed denser and denser. Our aim is to describe and understand the nanoscale structure and develop a deep understanding about the mechanism that dominate the macroscopic flow properties of dense microgel based materials.

· G.M. Conley & F. Scheffold, Relationship between rheology and structure of interpenetrating, deforming, and compressing microgels, submitted

· G. M. Conley, S. Nöjd, M. Braibanti, P. Schurtenberger and F. Scheffold, Superresolution Microscopy of the Volume Phase Transition of pNIPAM Microgels, Colloids and Surfaces A 499, 18–23 (2016)

· G.M. Conley, P. Aebischer, S. Nöjd, P. Schurtenberger, F. Scheffold, Jamming and overpacking fuzzy microgels: Deformation, interpenetration, and compression, Science Advances 3 (10), e1700969 (2017)

· F. Scheffold, P. Diaz-Leyva, M. Reufer, N. Ben Braham, I. Lynch, J.L. Harden, Brush-like interactions between thermoresponsive microgel particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 128304, (2010)