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Anisotropic Diffusion of Polyelectrolyte Chains within Multi-layer Films...

by Li Xu, Veronika Kozlovskaya, Eugenia Kharlampieva, John F Ankner, Svetlana Sukhishvili
Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
ACS Macro Letters
Publication Date
Page Numbers
127 to 130
Volume
1
Issue
1

We found diffusion of polyelectrolyte chains within multilayer films to be highly anisotropic, with the preferential chain motion parallel to the substrate. The degree of anisotropy was quantified by a combination of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching and neutron reflectometry, probing chain diffusion in directions parallel and perpendicular to the substrate, respectively. Chain mobility was controlled by ionic strength of annealing solutions and steric hindrance to ionic pairing of interacting polyelectrolytes.