Polymers in nanotubes

Abstract

Differently from small molecules like gas or liquid molecules, polymers show unique properties that are dependent on the size (degree of polymerization) of the molecules. As geometric constraints on the nanoscale are imposed upon polymers, their physical behavior also tends to deviate from that in bulk. Especially in cylindrical nanopores, the imposed curvature and two-dimensional nanoconfinement are mostly considered to cause the deviation in the physical behavior. Since the size of a polymer chain generally ranges from few nanometers to few tens of nanometers in bulk, the nanoscopic geometric constraint influences the static as well as dynamic behavior in the molecular scale of polymers such as mobility, crystallization mechanism, phase behavior. In this chapter, it is generally discussed how cylindrical nanoconfinement affects the physical behavior of polymers. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.