Surface forces and narorheological properties of adsorbed polymer monolayers.

This thesis is concemed with the behaviour of adsorbed polymer layers at the solid-liquid interface. The instrument that plays a central role is the so-called Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA), that allows for direct measurement of the interaction between two surfaces as a function of their separation. By applying adsorbed polymer layers to one or both of the surfaces, the interactions between a polymer layer and a bare surface or between two polymer layers can be measured in a liquid medium. These interaction play an important role in many technological processes, such as the stabilization of colloidal dispersions, adhesion between two surfaces and lubrication of two surfaces in sliding contact. The contents of this thesis will now be summarized for each chapter. Zie: Summary