Physisorption or chemisorption from dilute polymer solutions often entails irreversible polymer-surface bonding. We present a theory of the resultant nonequilibrium layers. While the density profile and loop distribution are the same as for equilibrium layers, the final layer comprises a tightly bound inner part plus an outer part whose chains make only $fN$ surface contacts where $N$ is chain length. The contact fractions $f$ follow a broad distribution, $P(f)\sim f^{-4/5}$, in rather close agreement with strong physisorption experiments [H. M. Schneider et al., Langmuir 12, 994 (1996)].

• Received 20 September 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.056103