title: Layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolyte chains and nanoparticles on nanoporous substrates: molecular dynamics simulations.
abstract: We performed molecular dynamics simulations of a multilayered assembly of oppositely charged polyelectrolyte chains and nanoparticles on porous substrates with cylindrical pores. The film was constructed by the sequential adsorption of oppositely charged species in a layer-by-layer fashion from dilute solutions. The multilayer assembly proceeds through surface overcharging after the completion of each deposition step. The substrate overcharging fraction fluctuates around 0.5 for nanoparticle-polyelectrolyte systems and around 0.4 for polyelectrolyte-polyelectrolyte systems. The surface coverage increases linearly with the number of deposition steps. The rate of surface coverage increases as a function of the number of deposition step changes when the pore is blocked. The closing of the pore occurs from the pore entrance for nanoparticle-polyelectrolyte systems. In the case of polyelectrolyte-polyelectrolyte systems, the pore plug is formed inside the pore and then spreads toward the pore ends.
authors.affiliation: Polymer Program, Institute of Materials Science and Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
authors.forename: Jan-Michael Y
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.forename: Andrey V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Dobrynin