Temperature Dependence of Adsorption of Polymer Mixtures from Solutions

Adsorption from binary (poly(butyl methacrylate)-CCl(4), poly-styrene-CCl(4)) and ternary (poly(butyl methacrylate)-polystyrene-CCl(4)) solutions has been studied at 10, 25, and 60 degrees C. It was found that with increasing temperature the values of adsorption grew due to worsening of the thermodynamic quality of the common solvent. Worsening of the quality of the solvent leads to a decrease in size of the macromolecular coils and to an increase in the critical concentrations of overlapping macromolecules in solution. As a result, the state of macromolecules in solution depends on temperature and determines adsorption values. From the temperature dependence of adsorption using the Clapeyron-Clausius equation, the differential enthalpy of adsorbate (polymer) DeltaH was calculated for each polymer, by adsorption both from binary solution and from the mixture. Determining DeltaH values from the temperature dependence of adsorption allows us to find this value simultaneously for each polymer in the polymer mixture. It was established that transition of a polymer from solution onto the surface leads to an increase in its enthalpy in the case of adsorption from both binary and ternary solutions. DeltaH increases with increasing coverage of the surface. By transition from solution onto the surface, the enthalpy of the adsorbed polymer increases; i.e., the polymer transits in an energetically less favorable state. This effect is more pronounced for adsorption from the mixture, which may be connected with the presence of the second polymer in the adsorption layer. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.