Adsorbed polymer layers in nonequilibrium situations

In many applications, the formation of an adsorbed polymer layer is an important process step, the rate of which is crucial to the effect to be achieved. Also, during processing, polymer layers are often exposed to shear and collisions in a highly dynamic situation. Therefore, the behavior of polymers at and near interfaces under nonequilibrium conditions is an important field of study. We discuss recent work on the kinetics of adsorption, desorption, and the exchange of uncharged homopolymers and polyelectrolytes. We also consider stretching of polymers in flow fields, both shortly before and after adsorption. Finally, we review recent work on bridging between colloidal particles, which sheds light on the rate of unfolding processes on surfaces, and discuss polymer transfer between two surfaces in particle collision processes.