SUNScholar - Browsing by Author "Sibanda, Charmaine"

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Single molecule diffusion in polymeric systems
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Sibanda, Charmaine; Bosman, Gurthwin W.; Rohwer, Erich G.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Physics.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The dynamics of thin polymeric systems were studied in this research work using the diffusion of single fluorescent molecules observed by single molecule fluorescence microscopy. A wide field single fluorescence microscopy setup was designed together with a custom-built heating stage to study the nano-environments of two different polymeric systems and how these systems are affected by a change in temperature. The designed optical setup achieved a localization precision of 20 nm which further enabled the tracking of single molecules embedded in polymeric systems. The position trajectories of the single molecules in the polymer matrices are used to calculate the motion of the single molecules from which the diffusion coefficient data is extracted. The distribution of the diffusion coefficients is a consequence of the microscopic dynamics of the polymeric systems coupled to the probe molecules. The fluorescence intensity pattern analysis of the single molecules is also used as reporters of the nano-environment of thin polymeric films.