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Irreversibility and Polymer Adsorption

Ben O'Shaughnessy·Dimitrios Vavylonis
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Abstract

Physisorption or chemisorption from dilute polymer solutions often entails irreversible polymer-surface bonding. We present a theory of the non-equilibrium layers which result. While the density profile and loop distribution are the same as for equilibrium layers, the final layer comprises a tightly bound inner part plus an outer part whose chains make only fN surface contacts where N is chain length. The contact fractions f follow a broad distribution, P(f) ~ f^{-4/5}, in rather close agreement with strong physisorption experiments [H. M. Schneider et al, Langmuir v.12, p.994 (1996)].

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Ben O'Shaughnessy, Dimitrios Vavylonis. 2002-12-05. Irreversibility and Polymer Adsorption. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.90.056103

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