Direct measurement of intermolecular forces between a polymer layer and mica

Abstract

We report here the first direct measurement of intermolecular forces between a polymer layer and a solid surface. When solid surfaces bearing adsorbed polymer approach one another, interactions develop that may be categorized as polymer–polymer and polymer–solid (and a negligible contribution of solid–solid interactions at the large solid–solid separations imposed by adsorbed polymer). Direct measurements of the forces between polymer layers adsorbed on mica have been made recently with apparatus of the type developed by Israelachvili. Attractive forces are attributed to a combination of osmotic (polymer–polymer) and bridging (polymer–solid) interactions. Bridging occurs if macromolecules adsorbed one one surface can reach a second surface. In the work presented here, poly(α-methylstyrene) (PαMS) adsorbed on one mica sheet was brought into contact in cyclohexane with a bare mica sheet. Adhesion was measured as a function of separation and contact time and found to be more than 20 times greater than between two polymer–coated surfaces under otherwise identical conditions. This direct measurement of molecular forces between dissimilar surfaces enables estimation of the PαMS segmental sticking energy on mica in cyclohexane as (1)/(3) kT.