Growth of membranes formed by associating polymers at interfaces

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

H-bonding of polymers at the interface between a solution of poly(propylene oxide) (PPO) in isopropyl myristate and an aqueous solution of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA). The film thickness is measured by reflectometric methods. The growth rate slows down about 25 times for 500-nm-thick films at pH = 5.1 compared to the case of pH = 3. The ionization degree of PMAA solutions is studied by potentiometric methods. Even a small change in ionization is found to influence noticeably the growth rate of the film. In the diffusion-controlled regime, the slowdown can be explained by a drop in the composition gradient in the membrane, whereas the process becomes non-stationary if the absorption of PMAA is hindered by an interfacial electrostatic barrier.