The effects of the fractal geometry of surfaces on the adsorption conformation of polymers at monolayer coverage part I. The case of polystyrene

Surface geometry effects on the adsorption conformations of polymers under plateau conditions are found and analyzed by using fractal geometry considerations. The re-analysis of many adsorption studies, with special emphasize on polystyrene, shows that while on a flat surface a dense packing is formed, distorting the solution conformation into a prolate shape, on highly porous objects the solution conformation changes only slightly upon adsorption. These general trends show a surprisingly low sensitivity to the chemical nature of the polymer-solvent-surface system, emphasizing the crucial role of environmental geometry in determining adsorption conformations.