0000000000194946
AUTHOR
Georg Papastavrou
Poly(styrene sulfonate) self-organization: electrostatic and secondary interactions
We investigate the self-organization of PSS in brushes and polyelectrolyte multilayers with X-ray, neutron and optical reflectivity. The electrostatic force dominates brush phases and adsorption behavior, additionally we find evidence of a strong hydrophobic force: (i) within amphiphilic diblock copolymer monolayers, a PSS monolayer adsorbs flatly to the hydrophobic block, (ii) on temperature increase (and with screened electrostatic forces), more PSS is adsorbed onto oppositely charged surfaces, and (iii) a polyelectrolyte multilayers shrinks when heated at 100% r.h. The latter two effects are consistent with the well-known increase of the hydrophobic force on heating: The increased PSS su…
Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction and Reflection Studies of a Polymacromonomer Monolayer at the Air−Water Interface: Transition from Aligned Single Molecules to Homogeneous Layer
Monolayers of polymacromonomers with poly(vinyl)pyridine side chains of different lengths, polyPVP20.8 and polyPVP46.7, are studied at the air/water interface. Combination of reflection data and diffraction peaks allows the establishment of a structural model. In the expanded phase at pressures below approximately 15 mN/m, the side chains are adsorbed to the air/water interface, causing polymer backbone stretching and alignment of the single molecules. The in-plane peaks are due to the lateral electron density variation above and below the adsorption layer. The diameter of the flattened cylindrical molecules corresponds to twice the contour length of the side chains (25 and 12.5 nm, respect…