Polyelectrolyte Multilayers on Weak Polyelectrolyte Brushes

The interaction of surface-attached weak polyelectrolyte brushes, grown directly from the surface of a solid substate by surface-initiated polymerization, with weak polyelectrolyte molecules in solution is studied. In adition, the formation of PEL multilayers onto such brush substrates is investigated. A strong template effect is observed and the thickness of each adsorbed layer is closely related to the thickness of the initial brush. Thus monolayers of more than 100 nm can be adsorbed in one single dipping cycle. Layer thickness of PEI layers adsorbed to PMAA brusher as a function of the thickness of the surface-attached monolayer. The solid line represents a case in which the PEI layer has exactly the same thickness as the brush monolayer.