Electrostatic interactions between polyelectrolytes and a titania precursor: Thin film and solution studies

Abstract

A facile approach, based on the polyelectrolyte-mediated electrostatic adsorption of a water-soluble titania precursor, titanium (IV) bis (ammonium lactato) dihydroxide (TALH), is presented for the formation of multilayered thin films of defined thickness and composition. The thin films were formed by the alternate deposition of TALH and positively charged polyelectrolyte [poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride), PDADMAC, poly (allylamine hydrochloride), PAH, and chitosan, CH] utilizing electrostatic interactions for film formation. Layer-by-layer film growth was monitored by UV-vis spectrophotometry, ellipsometry, and by a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The UV-vis, ellipsometric, and QC..