Tatsunari Ohkubo

Mr. Tatsunari Ohkubo


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

2Years (2025-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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23 January 2025 in Polymers
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
TSTakaaki Shiina
Takaaki Shiina
TOTatsunari Ohkubo
Tatsunari Ohkubo
KMKeegan McGehee
Keegan McGehee
RIRena Inamasu
Rena Inamasu
TATatsuya Arai
Tatsuya Arai
Kazuhiro MioKazuhiro Mio
Kazuhiro Mio
Measuring molecular dynamics improves understanding of the structure–function relationships of materials. In this study, we present a novel technique for observing material dynamics using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in which the gold nanoparticles are employed as motion probes for tracing the polymer dynamics in real space. A thin layer of polymer materials was generated on the 2 μm diameter holes of Quantifoil grids, and gold nanoparticles were dispersed on the membrane surface. By tracking the movement of gold nanoparticles from a series of TEM images taken under continuous temperature control, we obtained mean squared displacement (MSD) curves. The dynamics of poly{2-(perfluorooctyl)ethyl acrylate} (PC8FA) and poly(stearyl acrylate) (PSA) were analyzed. In the temperature-dependent analysis of the MSD, sharp peaks were observed for both PC8FA and PSA at positions corresponding to their melting and crystallization temperatures. These results demonstrate the capability of TEM to provide valuable insights into the dynamics of polymer materials, highlighting its potential for widespread application in materials sciences.