The adsorption of the ampholytic diblock copolymer poly(methacrylic acid)-block-poly((dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PMAA-b-PDMAEMA) and the corresponding homopolyelectrolytes of the two blocks,
PMAA and PDMAEMA, was investigated from dilute aqueous solution on silicon substrates. The adsorbed
amount of polymer as a function of pH, polyampholyte concentration, and salt concentration in solution
has been determined by ellipsometry at room temperature. As a function of pH the adsorbed amount
reaches its maximum at the isoelectric point of the polyampholyte. Some adsorption takes place even in
pH ranges where the surface charge has the same sign as the net charge of the polyampholyte. By variation
of the polyampholyte concentration, typical adsorption isotherms were determined at several pH values.
With increasing salt concentration the adsorbed amount increases, and above a critical concentration it
diverges to very large values. The measured dependencies can be explained by the adsorption of one or
the other of the two blocks depending on acidity and ionic strength and are in good agreement with
theoretical predictions. Adsorption kinetics has also been studied in detail, and the diffusion coefficient
of the polyampholyte toward the surface has been obtained in the early state of adsorption as a function
of pH, polyampholyte concentration, and salt concentration.