title: Adsorption of polyalkyl glycol ethers and triblock nonionic polymers on PET.
abstract: Surface modification enables fiber lubrication and processing but little is known about the extent and dynamics of adsorption of typical adsorbates applied for such purposes, which often includes water-soluble block nonionic amphiphilic polymers. In this work we used quartz crystal microgravimetry (QCM) to investigate the adsorption on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) of polyalkyl glycol ethers and triblock molecules of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. The adsorption from aqueous solution of the block nonionic amphiphilic polymers strongly correlated with the self-association driven by the chain length of the respective hydrophobic blocks. This was demonstrated for the different adsorbing polymers using hydrophobic numbers calculated from simple group contribution methods. Hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions explain the affinity of the nonionic polymers with PET, which lead to adsorption isotherms that follow Langmuir-based and one-step empirical adsorption models.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science & Technology, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210037, PR China; Departments of Forest Biomaterials and Chemical and Biomelecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005, USA.
authors.forename: Junlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8301, USA.
authors.forename: Wendy E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: Departments of Forest Biomaterials and Chemical and Biomelecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 27695-8005, USA; Department of Forest Products Technology, Faculty of Chemistry and Materials Sciences, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16300, Aalto FIN-00076, Finland. Electronic address: ojrojas@ncsu.edu.
authors.forename: Orlando J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Rojas
keywords: Adsorption; Hydrophobic forces; Nonionic polymeric surfactants; PET; Polyalkyl glycol ethers; Polyester; Self-assembly; Triblock nonionic polymers