Abstract
Polyelectrolyte multilayer films are a versatile functionalization method of surfaces and rely on the alternated adsorption of oppositely charged species. Among such species, charged dyes can also be alternated with oppositely charged polymers, which is challenging from a fundamental point of view, because polyelectrolytes require a minimal number of charges, whereas even monovalent dyes can be incorporated during the alternated adsorption process. We will not only focus on organic dyes but also on their inorganic counterparts and on metal complexes. Such films offer plenty of possible applications in dye sensitized solar cells. In addition, dyes are massively used in the textile industry and in histology to stain textile fibers or tissues. However, the excess of non bound dyes poses serious environmental problems. It is hence of the highest interest to design materials able to adsorb such dyes in an almost irreversible manner. Polyelectrolyte multilayer films, owing to their ion exchange behavior can be useful for such a task allowing for impressive overconcentration of dyes with respect to the dye in solution. The actual state of knowledge of the interactions between charged dyes and adsorbed polyelectrolytes is the focus of this review article.
Highlights
Dyes have been actively used for painting and coloring of textiles for millenaries
They deposited a stratified multilayer where the first stack was made of poly(vinylbenzylammonium chloride) (PVBAC) and poly(sodium-4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS) doped with a dye and the second stack was made from a thin (PAH-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA))5 film
Films obtained by the layer-by-layer deposition of charged species allow to concentrate dyes in an important manner with respect to their concentration in solution and to obtain the dye in a quasi solid state
Summary
Dyes have been actively used for painting and coloring of textiles for millenaries. These activities consist of coating surfaces to modify their surface properties along with their esthetic appearance. With modern technology it is mandatory to confer some well designed optical properties, like controlled absorbance at specific wavelengths for artificial photosynthesis, non linear optical properties, the possibility to inject charges in semi-conductors for dye sensitized solar cells to state of the art thin films of well controlled thickness Among such technologies, the coating of surfaces with films prepared according to the “Layer-by-layer” process emerged about 20 years ago [1], after some initial trials in the 1960s [2], as a versatile method to deposit films of well controlled thickness on charged or uncharged substrates. Such films allow for the incorporation of dyes and nanoparticles in a post deposition manner and could offer new opportunities for drug release [16] as well as for depolution of water
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