(415f) Experimental Investigation of Growth Kinetics of Layer-By-Layer Assembly of Organic Nanoparticles and Polyelectrolytes

Due to ease of fabrication and versatility, functional thin films have attracted growing attention recently. They can be used for coating, sensing or drug delivery applications to name but a few. Yet, the growth behavior of particles in polyelectrolyte multilayers is still poorly understood, especially for drug delivery applications. Here, we present a study of growth kinetics of layer-by-layer assembly of polystyrene nanoparticles and polyelectrolytes. Polystyrene nanoparticles of different surface functionalization serve as model carriers for drug molecules. We examine the effect of particle size, as well as pH and ionic strength of the media on growth rate of multilayers using a quartz crystal microbalance. Both linear and exponential growth behaviors are observed for particle deposition. Finally, we characterize surface morphology of the films with atomic force microscopy technique. We expect this work to facilitate design of thin films for emerging applications such as drug delivery.