Flexible polymer dynamics and interactions near surfaces

Confinement, along with electrostatic and Van der Waals interactions, can drastically affect how fast/slow the particles and polymers move. To study these effects, convex lens-induced confinement (CLiC) along with Differential Dynamic Microscopy is used. CLiC sandwiches a convex lens and glass coverslip together. The particles and polymers are then placed in this confining geometry and DDM is used to analyze the dynamics. It's shown that in strong confinement the particles and polymers diffuse slower than in the bulk.