Characterization of polyelectrolyte-protein multilayer films by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and fourier transform infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy

Abstract

Protein-containing polyelectrolyte multilayer films of poly(styrenesulfonate) and poly(allylamine hydrochloride), fabricated by the sequential adsorption of polyelectrolyte and anti-immunoglobulin G (anti-IgG) on solid substrates, have been characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (FTIRRAS). Visualization of the film structure on the nanometer scale, by AFM and SEM, showed that either layered or disordered films were formed depending on the number of polyelectrolyte layers separating each protein layer. For films where each anti-IgG layer was separated by one polyelectrolyte layer,..