Phase Separation in Polymer Blends Near a Surface

Abstract

We consider a blend of two polymers of different chemical nature in the presence of an adsorbing surface. We assume that the surface adsorbs strongly one or both species at high temperature. This constrains the system to a quenched composition on the surface. We assume that phase separation occurs at lower temperature. We discuss the influence of the quenched surface fluctuations on the critical properties of the mixture. We generalize to these mixtures the characteristic critical adsorption that is present in simple fluid mixtures. The composition profile is calculated in all cases.