2013, Balko, S.M., Kreer, T., Costanzo, P.J., Patten, T.E., Johner, A., Kuhl, T.L., Marques, C.M.

Polymer coatings are frequently used to provide repulsive forces between surfaces in solution. After 25 years of design and study, a quantitative model to explain and predict repulsion under strong compression is still lacking. Here, we combine experiments, simulations, and theory to study polymer coatings under high loads and demonstrate a validated model for the repulsive forces, proposing that this universal behavior can be predicted from the polymer solution properties.