Structure of gels, characterization techniques

Publisher Summary The most fundamental problem in evaluating the structure of polymer gels is the structural analysis on the molecular level, in particular, the determination of molecular conformation and quantitative analysis. Various physical gels from semicrystalline polymer solutions are known to form higher-order placement of a polymer chain. Also, in the ordering process of polymers—such as gelation or crystallization—ordering of the molecular conformation is fundamental. Infrared spectroscopy is one of the most useful methods to obtain knowledge regarding these processes. The interaction between the polymer and the solvent in the gel formation process is also an important problem, and information on this interaction can also be obtained. The chapter examines the fundamental principles, the measurement procedure, and analysis methods using representative systems. The chapter discusses the application of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to polymer gels