University of Connecticut |
Polymer Program SeminarpH Gated Porosity Transitions of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films M.I.T. Friday, February 4, 2005 11:00 am , IMS Room 20 The layer-by-layer (LBL) molecular-level processing of polymers is now a well-established methodology for creating thin film coatings with precisely tunable physical, biochemical and chemical properties. The multilayer films fabricated using LBL assembly have potential applications in sensing, drug releasing, and nano-electronic technology. We are specifically interested in studying the properties and applications of weak polyelectrolyte multilayer films. In this talk, we demonstrate that pores of different length scale can be induced by treating multilayer films under different conditions. We also show the polyelectrolyte multilayers with alternating porous and fully-dense regions assembled from poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and polystyrene sulfonate (SPS) in appropriate combinations. Various structures including one-dimensional photonic structures and superhydrophobic surfaces can be fabricated from porous multilayer films. We will discuss potential applications of these structures for sensing, drug releasing and lab-on-chip technologies.
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