Dynamics of layer-by-layer growth of a polyelectrolyte multilayer studied in situ using attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy.

Attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) was used to study the dynamic layer-by-layer (LBL) growth of a sodium polyacrylate (NaPA)/poly(diallydimethylammonium) chloride (PDADMAC) multilayer on TiO2 particles. Molecular weights (Mw) used were 30 and 60 kDa for NaPA and 8.5 and 150 kDa for PDADMAC. IR spectra were recorded in situ as a function of time and were used to obtain the dynamic mass adsorbed and bound fraction of the polymers during each deposition step. For 30 kDa NaPA layers, the dynamics of adsorption show an initial rapid rise in mass followed by a slow increase toward a plateau value upon LBL with 150 kDa PDADMAC. In contrast, the 60 kDa NaPA layers achieve a plateau quickly and do not show a slow increase toward a plateau. In the case of LBL with 150 kDa PDADMAC, the dynamics of the bound fraction of polymer per layer suggest that polymer diffusion and conformational rearrangement occur for the layers of 30 kDa NaPA but not for the 60 kDa NaPA layers. Furthermore, PDADMAC adsorption profiles show that there is no diffusion of the PDADMAC layers and that PDADMAC flattens onto the underlying layer. A linear growth in the mass adsorbed per layer was observed for 150 kDa PDADMAC with both molecular weights of NaPA. In the case of 8.5 kDa PDADMAC, smaller growth increments and the desorption of underlying layers were observed. This work demonstrates the use of ATR-IR in obtaining the dynamics of LBL multilayer formation. Furthermore, it provides an example in which polymer diffusion during LBL film formation does not lead to exponential growth.