FORCES BETWEEN ADSORBED PVA LAYERS

The forces between adsorbed layers of poly(vinyl alcohol) have been measured by a direct force balance technique. Not only have the equilibrium forces been measured, but also the dynamic forces have been assessed as the surfaces were rapidly moved towards each other. It was found that the dynamic forces were larger by a substantial factor than those measured at equilibrium, and this has important implications for the stability of colloidal dispersions stabilised by adsorbed polymer layers, and possibly also for electrostatically stablised colloids.