Adsorption and desorption phenomena of PEO-PPO-PEO triblock copolymer systems on model surfaces

This thesis reports on the kinetic and equilibrium behavior for the adsorption from solution of a family of copoly(ethyleneoxide-propyleneoxide-ethyleneoxide), PEO-PPO-PEO, triblock copolymers on gold surfaces modified by a methyl terminated self-assembled monolayer of a long chain alkanethiol (CH₃(CH ₂)₁₀SH) and by a long chain mercaptoalkanoic acid (HOOC(CH ₂)₁₀SH). Events at the surface were monitored with a surface plasmon resonance technique with a high time resolution (0.1 s). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) in the liquid environment was conducted on a selected number of cases to discern the morphology of the copolymer coated surfaces. The data were analyzed in the context a mass transfer corrected Langmuir kinetics model. The model is only able to reproduce the observations for very dilute solutions, or for the initial stages of the process, but it allows to better discriminate the onset of the different mechanisms of adsorption.; For the hydrophobic surface, the adsorbed amounts go through a maximum near the critical micelle concentration (CMC) and thus the process is not consistent with a Langmuir isotherm; in addition we the process is partially irreversible. The kinetics show that, for a series of compounds with the same length of the PPO block, the character of the adsorption process is affected by the relative balance of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic content within the copolymer: higher hydrophobic content leads to enhanced adsorption rates past the CMC. AFM observations confirm that globular micelle-like aggregates are present at the surface for the more hydrophobic species. In contrast, a uniform monolayer-like morphology is observed for the more hydrophilic species.; For the hydrophilic surface, it is again found that the adsorbed amounts go through a maximum near the critical micelle concentration (CMC), however, in this case, the process is reversible. Enhanced adsorption rates past the CMC are observed irrespective of the relative balance of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic content within the copolymer. The species with a higher hydrophobic content exhibit higher equilibrium adsorption values and lower kinetic rates. Overall, the rates and adsorbed amounts for the hydrophilic surface are an order of magnitude lower than in the case of the hydrophobic surface.