Polystyrene-block-poly(2-cinnamoylethyl methacrylate) Adsorption in the van der Waals−Buoy Regime

Polystyrene- block -poly(2-cinnamoylethyl methacrylate) (PS- b -PCEMA) polymers of different asymmetric ratios, β, and numbers, m, of CEMA units were synthesized and characterized. In cyclopentane/THF mixtures, the polymers were adsorbed by silica mainly via the PCEMA block in the brush conformation. For samples with β values greater than 4, their surface adsorption data could be well explained by the theory of Marques et al. for diblock adsorption from micelle solutions in the van der Waals−buoy regime. This represents the first experimental confirmation of such a scaling relation. On silver surfaces, the PCEMA block was the main adsorbing species for samples with small β and large m, and both the PS and PCEMA blocks adsorbed for samples with large β and small m values. As polymer brushes are not formed from certain polymers, the data of polymer adsorption by silver did not follow the scaling relation of Marques et al.