The surface properties of two conjugated main-chain polyrotaxanes, polyazomethine threaded on alpha-cyclodextrin (PA/alpha-CD), and 9,9-dioctylfluorene-bithiophene copolymer threaded on randomly methylated beta-cyclodextrin (PF-BT/RM-beta CD) were investigated and compared with PA and PF-BT non-rotaxane copolymers. Optical microscopy study of PF-BT/RM-beta CD polyrotaxane showed the self-assembling of the lamellae into 3D large flat worm-like structures with an almost parallel distribution compared with disordered PF-BT reference copolymer. Lower values of the interfacial adhesion forces of polyrotaxane films, obtained by atomic force microscopy (AFM), were assigned both to the interactions of macrocycles with hydrophobic substrate and to their aggregation tendency. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.