Skeleton-based Image Registration of Serial Electron Microscopy Sections

摘要

Photostrictive polymers are a shape memory material that actuates between two mechanical states due to applicationof different wavelengths of light. Photostrictive materials often exhibit large strains during this process. In this worka novel photostrictive polymer was synthesized using a similar procedure to the synthesis of nylon threads. A monomercontaining azobenzene, a photoreactive switch, was synthesized. The novel monomer was polymerized into a materialwith similar properties to that of nylon where the photoswitch replaces some of the alkyl units created by the adipoylchloride monomer. This creates a new photostrictive thread alternative to flat sheets for artificial muscle applications.Additionally, the photoactive monomer and the original nylon monomer, adipoyl chloride, were used concurrently toproduce a copolymer with varying degrees of the photoactive unit. Utilizing a copolymer methodology allows theinnovative thread-like material to be tunable, by varying the amount of photoactive units embedded into the polymerstrand. Ratios of the photoswitch unit to adipoyl chloride of 1:5, 1:10, 1:25, and 1:50 were synthesized. Thesynthesized polymer strands were dissolved in formic acid so that the incorporation of the photoactive units could bemeasured using Ultra Violet –Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. The absorbance at varying wavelengths was determinedand compared to the base polymer, nylon. All azobenzene samples exhibited a direct correlation to an absorption bandat 345 nm and the concentration of the photoswitch unit.