Investigation of Polymer Dendritic Growth in Composite Material using Contact Resonance Method

A special class of polymer called dendrons which are repeatedly branched polymers linked together by a network of cascade branched monomers. A composite of these dendritic polymers with linear polymers may have unique physical and chemical properties. Using contact resonance mode of atomic force microscopy we are able to detect the viscoelastic properties of the dendritic formation of the polyethylene oxide (PEO) mixed with Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). PEO is known to form nanometric crystallites due to the diffusion limited aggregation process. However, the dendritic formation in the mixture has not been reported before. The amplitude and phase of the contact resonance shows a clear dendritic growth of PEO in the composite material. The extent of the polymer crystallization can be several nanometers thick within the composite material. Additionally, the intrinsic properties of such polymers to form denrimers can be explored for fabricating polymer composites having numerous potential applications in chemical sensing, drug-delivery, energy applications and many more.