AbstractThe surface potentials of monolayers of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMA) have been studied as a function of the pH of the subsolution. The influence of the macromolecular configuration on the properties of the ionizable groups was more particularly investigated. Orientation of molecules in the monolayer may be imposed by the stereoregularity of PMA (isotactic, atactic) and by the nature of the interface (air–water, cyclohexane–water). The results are analyzed in terms of theories of the ionic double layer (Gouy model, Donnan equilibrium) which permit the determination of the degree of ionization α of the film. The value of α gives indications about the orientation of specific groups of the macromolecular chain, i.e., of the ionized monomer units. Indeed, at the air–water interface, the film of isotactic PMA is more acid than that of the atactic sample, and at the cyclohexane–water interface, the degree of ionization is greater than at the air–water interface. These properties are the consequence of a modification of orientation of the hydrophilic groups with respect to the aqueous phase as a function of the stereoregularity of the sample and the nature of the interface. The variation of α with the pH of the substrate phase may be used to calculate an intrinsic dissociation constant Ks° of the molecules in the film. The value of Ks° is not modified by spreading conditions and remains very similar to that obtained in solution.