Kinetic aspects of polymer and polyelectrolyte adsorption on surfaces

The behavior of polymers adsorbed on a single surface or bridging two surfaces is fairly well understood when thermodynamic equilibrium conditions prevail. The work of Nobel prize winner, P.G. de Gennes, to whom the papers in this issue of Advances in Colloid and Interface Science are dedicated, has greatly contributed to this field. Useful as this knowledge is, in practise many situations are encountered in which polymer adsorption is not thermodynamically but kinetically controlled. In this paper we discuss various aspects of non-equilibrium polymer and polyelectrolyte adsorption, based on recent experimental findings. The discussion of these aspects is mainly qualitative, since we are still far from a detailed quantitative theory of the kinetics of polymer adsorption. Many of the examples are relevant to the chemistry of papermaking.