EPR Spectroscopic Characterization of Local Nanoscopic Heterogeneities during the Thermal Collapse of Thermoresponsive Dendronized Polymers

The collapse transition of thermoresponsive dendronized polymers was characterized on a molecular scale by CW EPR spectroscopy. Aggregation of the polymer is triggered by dynamic structural inhomogeneities of a few nanometers, and the dehydration of the polymer chains proceeds, despite the sharp phase transition, over a temperature interval of at least 30 °C (see picture).