Fundamental studies of pH-sensitivity in polyelectrolyte multilayers

This thesis investigated the fundamental characteristics of the pH-sensitive behavior of weak polyelectrolytes, such as poly(acrylic acid)(PAA) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) from two perspectives of the assembled multilayers - functional group composition and layer growth. In the first part of this thesis, with respect to the composition control of the functional groups, the assembly conditions to create surfaces that were dominated by specific functional groups were investigated, either to promote or inhibit adsorption of other entities onto the multilayer surfaces. After selective irreversible anchoring, the multilayer surface then acquires the specific physical or chemical properties of the newly incorporated molecules. For example, polystyrene-block-poly(acrylic acid)(PS-PAA) selectively adsorbs to the PAH-rich surfaces of PAA/PAH multilayer films thus rendering the originally hydrophilic PAH-rich regions hydrophobic. Furthermore, by using micro-patterned multilayers via ink-jet printing, two co-existing surface regions that selectively dictate the adsorption behavior of amphiphilic block copolymers were successfully generated. In the second part, the effects of the charge density of weak polyelectrolytes on multilayer growth were quantified by assembling PAA or PAH with several strong polyelectrolytes into multilayers and comparing the results with that of PAA/PAH multilayers.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Choi, Jeeyoung, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael. F. Rubner.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32263

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32263