Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
AKB: Biologische Physik
AKB 12: Soft-Matter Nanofluidic Devices
AKB 12.3: Talk
Tuesday, March 28, 2006, 14:45–15:00, ZEU 255
Evolution of DNA compaction in microchannels — •Rolf Dootz1, Alexander Otten2, Sarah Köster1, Bernd Struth3, and Thomas Pfohl1 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Bunsenstraße 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany — 2Applied Physics Department, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069 Ulm, Germany — 3European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 6 rue Horovitz, BP 220, 38043 Grenoble, France
Combining microfluidics with X-ray microdiffraction and Raman microscopy, the dynamic behaviour of soft matter in specific consideration of the molecular structure can be investigated. Owing to the generated elongational flow, alignment of the investigated materials is induced which allows for an improved structural characterisation. Here, the dynamics of the compaction of DNA by polyimine dendrimers is studied. Due to the laminar flow inside the microchannels, a highly defined, diffusion controlled compaction of the DNA occurs enabling the study of different states of the reaction during one measurement by varying the observation position in the channels. The evolution of a columnar mesophase with an in-plane square symmetry is monitored by X-ray microdiffraction and the molecular interaction between the two reactants is traced using Raman microscopy leading to a more profound comprehension of the condensation reaction.