Neutron is a Marvelous Probe to See the Living Things as it is Alive.
–Real Time & in-situ Observation on Living Polymerization–

Abstract

Small-angle neutron scattering was employed in order to perform a real time & in-situ observation on a polymerization-induced self-assembly process in in-vivo or in-vitro systems ; precise living anionic polymerization of polystyrene-b-polyisoprene, pre-irradiation radical polymerization of polystyrene onto a polytetrafluoroethylene film, and microbial or enzymatic polymerization of cellulose. The aim of these studies is to clarify self-organizations of macromolecular assemblies appeared in open non-equilibrium systems, which are exposed to external energy and mass flows induced by chemical reactions. The open non-equilibrium systems are believed to be important for understanding pattern formations not only in materials processing in industry but also in living things. Small-angle scattering observed for the systems was investigated according to the methods established for condensed matter physics (fractal and computational analyses), bridging with synthetic chemistry and molecular biology.