Surface forces and friction between non-polar surfaces coated by temperature-responsive methylcellulose

Methylcellulose is a heterogeneous polymer that exposes both methyl groups and –OH-groups to the solution, and the solvent quality of water for methylcellulose deceases with increasing temperature. In bulk solution this leads to aggregation into fibrils at high temperatures. In this report we address how temperature affects adsorbed layers of methylcellulose on hydrophobized silica surfaces in contact with an aqueous methylcellulose solution. The layers were imaged using PeakForce tapping mode atomic force microscopy, in order to determine how the additional adsorption that occurs with increasing temperature affects the layer structure. Surface force and friction measurements were carried out using the AFM colloidal probe method. The data demonstrate that the normal surface forces were rather insensitive to temperature, whereas the friction forces changed significantly with increasing temperature. At low loads the friction increases with increasing temperature, whereas at high loads the reverse is observed. These findings are discussed in terms of how the worsening of the solvent condition affects the aggregation state in the adsorbed layer, and the polymer-surface affinity.