APPARENTLY VISCOELASTIC RESPONSES IN A QUARTZ-CRYSTAL MICROBALANCE STUDY OF AN ELECTRODEPOSITED NONAQUEOUS COLLOID FILM

The sensitivity of the quartz crystal microbalance to the theological properties of an adherent film has been exploited in an investigation of the post-deposition structural rearrangements occurring within a fi lm comprising sterically stabilised colloid particles electrodeposited onto a quartz crystal. Analysis of the change in the resonant frequen cy of the crystal, during and following deposition, indicates the film is initially composed of close-packed particles bearing adsorbed poly mer chains. Over a longer timescale, osmotically driven solvation incr eases the inter-particle spacing. The transition is thus, in effect, f rom an initially elastic deposit to a highly concentrated dispersion.