PREPARATION OF TAILORABLE INTERFACES - ADSORPTION OF REACTIVE COPOLYMERS ONTO SILICA PARTICLES

The adsorption of two reactive copolymers poly(vinylpyrrolidone/vinyl chloroformate), poly(VP/CF), and poly(vinylpyrrolidone/vinyl chlorofor mate modified with N-hydroxysuccinimide), poly(VP/NHS), onto silica pa rticles (porous and nonporous) has been studied. FTIR spectroscopy was used for the study of the adsorption onto nonporous silica particles, allowing the determination of the fractions of links between the adso rbed copolymers and the surface. A preferential adsorption of the viny lpyrrolidone units over the other ones has been observed. Moreover, a mechanism of polymer-polymer association has been demonstrated in the adsorbed layers of poly(VP/NHS). The influence of the surface structur e on the adsorption has been studied with porous particles generally u sed for chromatography. It has been shown that the adsorption was enha nced with increased pore size for poly(VP/CF) copolymers. The porosity influence on the adsorption of the poly(VP/NHS) copolymer is complica ted because of the additional interaction mechanism of polymer-polymer association.