Watching macromolecules diffuse at surfaces and under confinement

Abstract

At the single-molecule level, this laboratory has been making direct measurements of polymer diffusion at and near surfaces. Parameters of special interest have been to understand (a) the role of molecular weight, N; (b) the role of surface coverage, which may range from dilute to saturated, and (c) the role of the surface, which may range from hard (a silicon wafer) to soft (a supported lipid bilayer), and (d) the use of external fields to direct the transport of small molecules through narrow surface channels that are one macromolecule thick.