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Monolayers of Diblock Copolymer at the Air-Water Interface: The Attractive Monomer-Surface Case

M. C. Fauré·P. Bassereau·M. A. Carignano·I. Szleifer·Y. Gallot·D. Andelman
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Abstract

We have studied both experimentally and theoretically the surface pressure isotherms of copolymers of polystyrene-polyethyleneoxide (PS-PEO) at the air-water interface. The SCMF (single chain mean-field) theory provides a very good agreement with the experiments for the entire range of surface densities and shows that the adsorption energy per PEO monomer at the air-water interface is about one $k_B T$. In addition, the chain density profile has been calculated for a variety of surface densities, from the dilute to the very dense ones. The SCMF approach has been complemented by a mean-field approach in the low density regime, where the PEO chains act as a two-dimensional layer. Both theoretical calculations agree with the experiments in this region.

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M. C. Fauré, P. Bassereau, M. A. Carignano, I. Szleifer, Y. Gallot, D. Andelman. 1997-06-24. Monolayers of Diblock Copolymer at the Air-Water Interface: The Attractive Monomer-Surface Case. https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510050324

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