Influence of solvent on the conformation of polymers adsorbed at the solid/liquid interface

Abstract

The conformational behaviour of spin-labelled poly(vinylpyrrolidone) adsorbed at the silica/solution interface has been studied by e.p.r. As the thermodynamic quality of the solvent decreased, p, the fraction of segments of the adsorbed polymer in trains increased, provided the non-solvent did not compete with the polymer for surface sites. These results are in accord with a system in which changes in p with solvent, are determined by free energies of adsorption per segment and osmotic pressure.