Adsorption hydrophobically-modified polymer chains

Started: 2014

Co-authors: Nadège Pantoustier, Patrick Perrin, Thomas Salez, Mathilde Reyssat, Cécile Monteux.

Location: SIMM, ESPCI-Paris, France – Gulliver,  ESPCI-Paris, France.

The adsorption kinetics of hydrophobically-modified polyacrylic acids (PAA) is measured and modeled. Alkyl chain of known length (8 or 12 carbons) are statistically and covalently grafted on a neutrally charged PAA backbone in a known quantity (between 0.5 to 5 % of monomers). A logarithmic decay of interfacial tension is observed over time. Due to the statistical distribution of the grafts, the adsorption of the polymer chains is limited by the deformation of the incoming chains and the necessity to open a hole on the surface. A model waas built to take these two effects into account and the area that a chain needs to adsorb at the interface was extracted from our experiments.