Poly(Styrene Sulfonate) Self-Organization: Electrostatic and Secondary Interactions

摘要

We investigate the self-organization of PSS in brushes and polyelectrolyte multilayers with X-ray, neutron and optical reflectivity. The electrostatic force dominates brush phases and adsorption behavior, additionally we find evidence of a strong hydrophobic force: (ι) within amphiphilic diblock copolymer monolayers, a PSS monolayer adsorbs flatly to the hydrophobic block, (ιι) on temperature increase (and with screened electrostatic forces), more PSS is adsorbed onto oppositely charged surfaces, and (ιιι) a polyelectrolyte multilayers shrinks when heated at 100% r.h. The latter two effects are consistent with the well-known increase of the hydrophobic force on heating: The increased PSS surface coverage can be attributed to deteriorating solvent conditions. Within a polyelectrolyte multilayer, an increase of the hydrophobic force maximizes the local contact of hydrophobic polymer segments, causing a reduction of swelling and an increased mass density.