TY - JOUR
T1 - Aqueous lubricating properties of charged (ABC) and neutral (ABA) triblock copolymer chains
AU - Røn, Troels
AU - Javakhishvili, Irakli
AU - Patil, Navin J.
AU - Jankova Atanasova, Katja
AU - Zappone, Bruno
AU - Hvilsted, Søren
AU - Lee, Seunghwan
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Application of charged polymer chains as additives for lubricating neutral surfaces in aqueous envi-
ronment, especially via polymer physisorption, is generally impeded by the electrostatic repulsion be-
tween adjacent polymers on the surface. In this study, we have investigated the adsorption and aqueous
lubricating properties of an amphiphilic triblock copolymer, comprised of a neutral poly(ethylene glycol)
(PEG) block, a hydrophobic poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA) block, and a charged poly(methacrylic
acid) (PMAA) block, namely PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PMAA. After adsorption onto a nonpolar hydrophobic sur-
face from aqueous solution, an equal and homogeneous mixture of neutral PEG and charged PMAA
chains is formed on the surface, with an adsorbed polymer mass comparable to its fully neutral coun-
terpart, PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PEG. The lubricity of PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PMAA showed signi
fi
cant improvement
compared to fully charged polymer chains, e.g. poly(acrylic acid)-
block
-poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate)
(PAA-
b
-PMEA), which is attributed to dilution of charged moieties on the surface and subsequent
improvement of the lubricating
fi
lm stability
AB - Application of charged polymer chains as additives for lubricating neutral surfaces in aqueous envi-
ronment, especially via polymer physisorption, is generally impeded by the electrostatic repulsion be-
tween adjacent polymers on the surface. In this study, we have investigated the adsorption and aqueous
lubricating properties of an amphiphilic triblock copolymer, comprised of a neutral poly(ethylene glycol)
(PEG) block, a hydrophobic poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate) (PMEA) block, and a charged poly(methacrylic
acid) (PMAA) block, namely PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PMAA. After adsorption onto a nonpolar hydrophobic sur-
face from aqueous solution, an equal and homogeneous mixture of neutral PEG and charged PMAA
chains is formed on the surface, with an adsorbed polymer mass comparable to its fully neutral coun-
terpart, PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PEG. The lubricity of PEG-
b
-PMEA-
b
-PMAA showed signi
fi
cant improvement
compared to fully charged polymer chains, e.g. poly(acrylic acid)-
block
-poly(2-methoxyethyl acrylate)
(PAA-
b
-PMEA), which is attributed to dilution of charged moieties on the surface and subsequent
improvement of the lubricating
fi
lm stability
KW - Lubrication
KW - Triblock copolymer
KW - Amphiphilic
U2 - 10.1016/j.polymer.2014.07.049
DO - 10.1016/j.polymer.2014.07.049
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0032-3861
VL - 55
SP - 4873
EP - 4883
JO - Polymer
JF - Polymer
ER -