POLYMER-SURFACTANT ASSEMBLY AT AN INTERFACE

The structure of a polymer-surfactant assembly at the air-water interface is discussed in Light of the scaling theory of de Gennes for adsorption of polymers at interfaces. We show that in cases where the polymer has an affinity for the interface and there is a favorable interaction between polymer and surfactant, the polymer may enhance adsorption of surfactant at the interface and also induce formation of ''surface micelles''. The analysis is used to support earlier experimental results on the poly (vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) system.