A Hydrogen-Bonding Based Approach to Fabricate Polymer/Inorganic Nanoparticle Multilayer Film

Abstract

AbstractA new hydrogen-bonding based route for layer-by-layer fabrication of polymer/inorganic nanoparticle multilayer thin films was developed. Surface modification of inorganic nanoparticles can provide functional groups on the particle surface, e.g. pyridine, carboxyl, and flavin. A polymer/inorganic nanoparticle multilayer film can be fabricated in a layer-by-layer manner using the hydrogen-bonding interaction between the functional groups on the surface of nanoparticles and polymers. The multilayer buildup was monitored by UV-visible spectroscopy, which showed a linear increase of the film absorbance with the number of adsorbed nanoparticle layers. FTIR spectroscopy was used to verify hydrogen bonding between polymer and nanoparticles, which is believed to be the driving force for the formation of polymer/nanoparticle multilayer thin films.