The principal aims of the thesis were to carry out a systematic analytical study to determine the solution properties of narrow-distribution and broad-distribution linear poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) polymer samples in aqueous and organic solution and to study the adsorption properties of these polymer samples onto glass interfaces and spherical latex particles. The deposition characteristics of various types of bare and PEO coated latex particles onto collector surfaces were also studied. / These studies allowed to ascertain the presence of PEO clusters in aqueous solution. The cluster size was found to be time dependent and to vary between 0.45 $ mu$m and 0.90 $ mu$m. The clusters were found to be in a thermodynamic equilibrium with the free polymer in solution and were found to reform spontaneously after a 30 minute period following filtration. / Adsorption studies indicated that the adsorption of PEO onto latex particles is kinetically controlled and that increased surface roughness and polarity of the latex particles decreases PEO adsorption. PEO clusters in solution were found to increase the value of the effective diffusion constant, D$ rm sb{eff}$ and thus decrease the calculated hydrodynamic layer thickness. / Evanescent wave light scattering was used in conjunction with a hydrodynamic impinging jet method for the study of depositing and non-depositing colloidal systems near interfaces. For non-depositing systems a comparison of the measured particle concentration profiles to the theoretically expected particle concentration profiles, calculated from DLVO theory, was made. The agreement was found to be very good. / The deposition of bare and PEO-coated latex particles onto glass interfaces was also investigated. From the data it was found that bare and smooth latex particles adsorb much more strongly onto collector surfaces than "hairy" latex particles which have long copolymer chains, such as itachonic acid, grafted onto their surfaces. The results indicated that the thicker the adsorbed polymer layer, the stronger the steric force preventing deposition of the polymer coated colloidal particles onto the collector surface. When the combined ellipsometric layer thickness of the particles and the collector surface exceeded a critical value, found to be about 15 nm, no particle deposition onto the collector surface was possible.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.28515 |
| Date | January 1994 |
| Creators | Polverari, Marco |
| Contributors | M., Van de Ven T. G. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Chemistry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001424818, proquestno: NN00125, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds