CTS-9634594 Durning, Turro-Columbia University SUMMARY DYNAMIC AND NON-EQUILBRIUM ASPECTS OF POLYMER ADSORPTION The adsorption of flexible macromolecules onto solids plays an important role in many technologies because of the dramatic surface modifications caused by the adsorption . Research will be performed on flexible, linear homopolymers adsorbing on well-characterized surfaces using four in-situ techniques with molecular-level sensitivity: fluorescence spectroscopy, ultrasonic quartz crystal resonators, neutron reflection, and pattern photobleaching. These methods will allow a systematic study of elementary dynamic processes in adsorbed layers: osmotic relation (i.e., swelling collapse) and translational diffusion of individual adsorbed polymers. They will also clarify the mechanisms controlling adsorption kinetics and exchange of polymers between adsorbed and bulk phases. The experiments will be supplemented by computer simulations, providing mechanistic insight , The results will supply new guidelines for manipulation and control of adsorbed layers, benefiting a variety of technologies. Examples include technologies relying on colloidal suspensions where adsorption affects suspension stability and rheology, extrusion and molding operations where adsorption on machine surfaces affects flow stability and fouling, and in biomedical technologies involving prosthetic and blood contacting devices where biopolymer adsorption controls thrombosis and cell adhesion.
