Interaction of colloidal particles bearing grafted polymer chains onto spherical surfaces

Abstract

Colloidal particles bearing polymer chains grafted by one end onto their surfaces are known as spherical polymer brushes. When the density of grafted chains is high enough, the constrained geometrical environment limits the available space the polymers can occupy forcing the chains to stretch out, normal to the surface. These colloidal systems are found to be particularly relevant in many aspects of polymer science and technology [1 ,2]. Just to mention: the stabilization of colloidal systems such as paints, glues, food emulsions, and pharmaceuticals; as potential drug carriers [3,4], forming stationary phases in chromatography and, more recently, they are found to be useful in the synthesis of nanocrystals in the so called quantum dot assembly process. Thus, a clear understanding of the polymer induced forces between brushes is essential to precisely determine the effect of polymer additives in chemical and biological systems