title: Competition of hydrogen-bonding and electrostatic interactions within hybrid polymer multilayers.
abstract: Using a layer-by-layer sequential adsorption technique, we report the construction of hybrid films in which layers of hydrogen-bonded polymers are embedded within electrostatically associated polyelectrolytes. The components of the hybrid film include a neutral hydrogen-bonding polymer, a weak polycarboxylic acid, and a strong polycation. Depending on the pH value used for the deposition of the electrostatic film, we found two distinctive regimes of film growth. At pHs lower than a critical value, deposition of electrostatic layers occurred on top of hydrogen-bonded stacks to produce hybrid, three-component films. At pHs higher than a critical value, neutral, hydrogen-bonded chains were displaced by the adsorbing chains of the polycation, producing two-component films. The property of the hydrogen-bonded stacks of hybrid films to be selectively dissolved by exposing them to a high pH makes these films promising candidates for producing free polyelectrolyte films.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, USA.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kharlampieva
authors.forename: Svetlana A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sukhishvili
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D055672:Static Electricity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004573:Electrolytes; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011108:Polymers