AFM observation of single-chain PMMA particles

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied to observe single-chain polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) particles that were stored for six months at room temperature after being sprayed from very dilute solutions in good solvents, good/poor mixed solvents, and a theta solvent. Nearly monodisperse PMMA standards of molecular weights ranging from 7.90 x 10(4) to 1.3 x 10(6) were used to investigate the effect of molecular weight (MW) on the size of the single-chain PMMA particles. These single-chain particles showed close to spherical shapes. The morphology of single-chain PMMA particles of a given molecular weight has found to be identical in spite of different solvents used for solution spraying. Molecular weight dependence of the particle dimension was also found. The diameters of single-chain PMMA particles after correction of tip-geometry effect were compared with the values estimated from molecular weight and density.