Langmuir, Vol.15, No.22, 7688-7694, 1999
Adsorption studies of diblock copolymers at the cyclohexane/carbon black interface
The adsorption of copolymers of polystyrene and hydrogenated polyisoprene block copolymers adsorbed from cyclohexane onto carbon black has been investigated. The adsorption of the copolymers was found strongly dependent on copolymer composition. The conformation of the adsorbed polymer is largely determined by the surface-copolymer interaction, especially by the interaction of the polystyrene block with the carbon black surface. Computer simulations of a polystyrene/hydrogenated polyisopropene diblock copolymer tethered to a cyclohexane-carbon interface have been performed. Interfacial volume fraction profiles are presented. An estimation of the relative adsorption affinities of the two polymers has been obtained by theoretical calculations using the self-consistent mean field model of Scheutjens and Fleer. The data show good qualitative agreement between the experimental results and the theoretical predictions.
Keywords:POLYSTYRENE LATEX;POLYMER ADSORPTION;AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS;MOLECULAR-WEIGHT;BLOCK-COPOLYMERS;LAYER THICKNESS;SOLVENT;OXIDE);SURFACES