Langmuir, Vol.16, No.3, 1094-1101, 2000
Monolayers of symmetric triblock copolymers at the air-water interface. 2. Adsorption kinetics
Dynamic surface tension (DST) experiments have been combined with time-resolved ellipsometry (TRE) to study the adsorption kinetics of symmetric triblock copolymers at the air-water interface. The equilibrium behavior of these adsorbed monolayers has been studied in the preceding paper in this issue (part 1), pointing out evidence for brush formation at sufficiently high surface concentrations. The dynamic results are consistent with a diffusive mechanism delayed by adsorption barriers in the full adsorption regime at lower concentrations. The first-order phase transition scenario evidenced from the equilibrium results is now also perceptible from the dynamic results: a competition between the bulk diffusion and molecular reorientation mechanisms is found in the brush regime. This two-step adsorption kinetics is characterized by an intermediate plateau, d gamma(t)/dt = 0, which gives evidence for phase coexistence while final steady state equilibrium is attained.
Keywords:SURFACTANT