Forces in Aqueous Nanofilms Containing Polyelectrolytes

This chapter deals with the structuring of polyelectrolytes within liquid nanofilms. The effect of the film core is separated from the influence of the interfaces. With respect to the influence of interfaces, films with different surfaces, such as foam films, wetting films and films between two solid interfaces, are compared and the effect of surface modification is considered. The response of the film core is studied by different parameters of the polymeric system, such as degree of polymer charge, molecular architecture and ionic strength.Methods for force measurements in thin films are critically compared with respect to their optimum application.