An in-situ ATR-FTIR study on polyelectrolyte multilayer assemblies on solid surfaces and their susceptibility to fouling

Abstract

SUMMARY In-situ attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FTIR spectroscopy was used to monitor the consecutively alternating adsorption of polyethylenimine (PEI) and poly(acry1ic acid) (PAC) onto both Si crystals (SiO) and COz plasma-treated polypropylene (PP) films. The vibration bands v,(COO-) and v(C=O) of PAC are diagnostic for the polyelectrolyte layer build-up and sensitive to protonation changes. Human serum albumine (HSA) adsorption experiments revealed a strong decrease of fouling for the PP films, which were modified with polyelectrolyte multilayers, in comparison to the unmodified ones.

Ultrathin polymer coatings by complexation of polyelectrolytes at interfaces: suitable materials, structure and properties

“…Additionally, coatings may contain a substantial amount of water 20,27,63,65,381,427,429) , with estimations going up to 40 wt.-% 381) . Not surprisingly, layer-by-layer deposition gives rise to polymer films with alternating surface properties, such as contact angle 30,187,273,363,394,398,400,436) , chemical composition 35,227,239,383,398,437) , or f-potential 32, 34-41, 46, 92, 353) . Prepared films are typically not birefringent 15,32,58,80,81,88,89,110,135,138,254,255,431) , i. e. they are isotropic in the film plane (for an exception, see ref.…”

“…Due to their transparency, glass and quartz are most suitable for the use of Vis-and UV-spectroscopy, as well as optical microscopy. Silicon wafers are well suited for ellipsometric studies 131,227,274,312,382) , and may serve for IR-spectroscopic investigations 64,125,383,384) as they are transparent in a wide IR-range. Also, their smooth surface renders them well suited for X-ray reflectivity studies 131,312,381,382,385) and for near-field microscopy.…”

“…These however are usually rather hydrophobic materials and were thought not to be suitable as substrates. Therefore, various methods of surface modification 62,77,108,364,366,403) often oxidation reactions 11,62,77,187,232,404) or plasma treatment 45,99,369,370,383,400,405) -were used to introduce a certain number of charged groups, before using polymers as supports for ESA. Nevertheless, a number of untreated polymers were found to be useful even without previous treatment, such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) 54,275,319,400) .…”

Trends in polymer chemistry 1998

“…A review of possible fields of application of this technique was given by Decher et al [57]. Miller et al used the multilayer formation of polyelectrolytes on silicon and polypropylene surfaces for the significant reduction of protein adsorption [58]. In this case, the adsorption of human serum albumin was traced in-situ with a newly developed ATR-FTIR technique.…”

Polyelectrolyte Complex Nanoparticles of Poly(ethyleneimine) and Poly(acrylic acid): Preparation and Applications

“…Thirdly, PEI is expected to have advantageous properties concerning drug uptake due to its high functional group density. Finally, we have been working for a long time also on PEL multilayers (PEM), composed of PEI/PAC, which serve as an interesting platform to study charge driven protein adsorption [20][21][22]. Interesting correlations between protein and drug interaction at PEM and at PEC systems are expected in the future.…”