title: Polyelectrolytes to produce nanosized polydopamine.
abstract: "Polydopamine" (PDA) is the oxidation product of dopamine and can be obtained as thin films covering the surface of all kinds of known materials and simultaneously as insoluble and useless precipitates from dopamine solutions in the presence of appropriate oxidants. The valorization of such precipitates to obtain stable suspensions of functional nanomaterials is highly desirable owing to the chemical and optical properties of PDA. We show that a vast repertoire of polyelectrolytes polycations as well as polyanions, allow to control the size of PDA particles in the 10-100 nm size range. Simultaneously to the production of smaller nanoparticles, a progressive inhibition of PDA deposition on the surface of quartz plates (as well as on the surface of the reaction vessel) is found as the concentration of the polyelectrolytes is increased in the dopamine solution. The mechanism of size control-inhibition of film deposition is investigated in the particular case of poly(allylamine) but remains not understood in the case of polyanions.
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1121, 11 rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 8 rue Sainte Elisabeth, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mateescu
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1121, 11 rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 8 rue Sainte Elisabeth, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Metz-Boutigue
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de RMN et biophysique des membranes, UMR 7177 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Institut le Bel, 4 rue Blaise Pascal, 67008 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bertani
authors.affiliation: Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1121, 11 rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex, France; Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 8 rue Sainte Elisabeth, 67000 Strasbourg, France. Electronic address: vball@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ball
keywords: Composite nanoparticles; Polydopamine; Polyelectrolytes