Number Of Bilayers Research Articles

Nanoscale architecture of ZrN/CrN coatings: microstructure, composition, mechanical properties and electrochemical behavior

The main aim of this study is to develop ZrN/CrN nanolayered coatings with bilayers periods 10 bilayers (10 L), 20 bilayers (20 L) and 30 bilayers (30 L) over AISI 304 stainless steel and also evaluating the effect of nanolayers architecture on their electrochemical behavior. The nanolayers were deposited from chromium and zirconium targets using the cathodic arc evaporation physical vapor deposition (Arc-PVD) technique in a nitrogen atmosphere. The nanolayer microstructure and morphology were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The chemical composition was studied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) tests. The electrochemical characterization was carried out by potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests in 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution in order to investigate changes in the electrochemical behavior as a function of the deposited bilayers number. The existence of CrN and ZrN phases with FCC lattices in the nanolayers were identified by the XRD patterns. The FE-SEM observations showed that the multilayered coatings were deposited at an excellent periodicity. The electrochemical tests indicated that the corrosion resistance of ZrN/CrN nanolayers is enhanced by increasing the number of bilayer periods that can be ascribed to the decrease in the pinholes and blocking the penetration path of corrosive solution.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin in the Lipid Bilayer-Similarities and Differences Revealed by Computational Studies.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two similar carotenoids of the xanthophyll subgroup. Carotenoids are synthesized almost entirely by plants but are also present in significant amounts in animals. They are essential components of the lipid matrix of biomembranes, and one of their functions is to protect cells from light radiation, free radicals and oxidative stress. Carotenoids, depending on their chemical structure, can locate at various positions and in different orientations in the bilayer. Xanthophylls (XAN) are polar and in the bilayer are positionally restricted. In the case of lutein and zeaxanthin, whose both ionone rings are hydroxy-substituted and as such are anchored in the lipid bilayer interfaces, the position is generally transmembrane. However, both experimental and computer modelling studies indicate that lutein can also locate horizontally below the bilayer interface. This location has never been observed for zeaxanthin. To find a molecular-level explanation for the difference in the orientations of the XAN molecules in the bilayer, a number of phosphatidylcholine-XAN bilayers were constructed and molecular dynamics (MD) simulated for 1.1 µs each. The all-trans XAN molecules were initially placed either parallel or perpendicular to the bilayer surface. With the exception of one lutein, the horizontally placed molecules adopted the transmembrane orientation within 100–600 ns. On the basis of detailed analyses of the XAN orientations and the numbers and lifetimes of their interactions in the bilayer, a plausible explanation is offered as to why a lutein molecule may remain in the horizontal orientation while zeaxanthin does not. Contrary to common believe, lutein horizontal orientation is not related to the ε-ring rotation around the C6′-C7′ bond.

Enhanced monovalent over divalent cation selectivity with polyelectrolyte multilayers in membrane capacitive deionization via optimization of operational conditions

In this work, we tuned the ion selectivity of a polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM)-coated, cation-exchange membrane (CMX) in a membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) process by carefully studying different operational modes, namely constant voltage (CV) and constant current (CC). The monovalent cation selectivity and its time-dependent behavior were monitored at different voltage and current values. Upon optimizing the current density (10 A/m2) and the number of polyelectrolyte bilayers (5.5) on the CMX membranes, a time-independent and nearly full monovalent cation selectivity was obtained for various feed solutions, provided a polycation-terminated PEM was applied. Furthermore, the selectivity values of several commercially available cation-exchange membranes were tested under the optimized conditions and compared with CMX and PEM-CMX, yielding the best performance for PEM-CMX, regardless the composition of feed solution. Before this optimization, this MCDI system showed a time-dependent selectivity, with a maximum of ρMgNa ≈3. The results were rationalized by applying an MCDI model based on the dynamic potential profile, describing the potential drops across the membrane and demonstrating a threshold for the current density.

Corrosion Properties of Heterostructured [8YSZ/Al2O3]N Coatings as a Function of the Bilayer Number

Corrosion Properties of Heterostructured [8YSZ/Al2O3]N Coatings as a Function of the Bilayer Number

The Magnetic Properties of Fe/Cu Multilayered Nanowires: The Role of the Number of Fe Layers and Their Thickness.

Multi-segmented bilayered Fe/Cu nanowires have been fabricated through the electrodeposition in porous anodic alumina membranes. We have assessed, with the support of micromagnetic simulations, the dependence of fabricated nanostructures’ magnetic properties either on the number of Fe/Cu bilayers or on the length of the magnetic layers, by fixing both the nonmagnetic segment length and the wire diameter. The magnetic reversal, in the segmented Fe nanowires (NWs) with a 300 nm length, occurs through the nucleation and propagation of a vortex domain wall (V-DW) from the extremities of each segment. By increasing the number of bilayers, the coercive field progressively increases due to the small magnetostatic coupling between Fe segments, but the coercivity found in an Fe continuous nanowire is not reached, since the interactions between layers is limited by the Cu separation. On the other hand, Fe segments 30 nm in length have exhibited a vortex configuration, with around 60% of the magnetization pointing parallel to the wires’ long axis, which is equivalent to an isolated Fe nanodisc. By increasing the Fe segment length, a magnetic reversal occurred through the nucleation and propagation of a V-DW from the extremities of each segment, similar to what happens in a long cylindrical Fe nanowire. The particular case of the Fe/Cu bilayered nanowires with Fe segments 20 nm in length revealed a magnetization oriented in opposite directions, forming a synthetic antiferromagnetic system with coercivity and remanence values close to zero.

Mechanical properties of thin films at the dodecane-water interface, for multilayered emulsion applications

The use of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) as emulsifying layers at an oil-water interface has significant potential to enhance emulsion application and function. In spite of this potential, there are few studies that directly probe the mechanical properties of interfacial layers of PEMs at the oil-water interface, properties that will influence significantly their range of applicability in emulsion science. We report here a study where we have explored the formation and mechanical properties of polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) and polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDADMAC) multilayers at an oil-water interface. The study of mechanical properties as a function of layer number has revealed differences for the interface depending on the identity of the multilayer terminating layer. Specifically, PDADMAC-terminated films were much more resistant to deformation and remained elastic over a much larger percentage deformation than the films terminated with PSS. The effect is seen to persist with each bilayer, with the interface cycling between elastic/deformable up to the measured maximum number of bilayers. Within this outer layer effect data, the range of the determined mechanical properties were: surface shear moduli ranging between 35 and 60 mN ∙ m − 1 ; bulk shear moduli ranging from 0 to 10 MPa. The data indicate that there is promise in the use of PEM emulsifying layers, allowing for tailoring of the physical stability of emulsion droplets, and thus aiding in prolonging product stability and shelf life.

Fabrication, characterisation and application of Poly Allyl Amine Hydrochloride / Poly Styrene Sulphonate/Zinc Oxide (PAH/(PSS/ZnO)n bilayers in the removal of pollutants from oil refinery waste water

ABSTRACT The application of nanomaterials in the oil and gas industry has been widely studied in the past few years, and polymeric nano thin films have become an area of interest among researchers. In this work, multilayer nano thin films were fabricated using poly(ally lamine hydrochloride) (PAH), zinc oxide (ZnO) and poly(styrene sulphonate sodium salt) (PSS) on glass template by Layer-by-Layer (L-b-L) technique and its potential application for the photo degradation of oil refinery wastewater have been reported. The L-b-L fabrication of the thin film was carried out at an assembly pH of 8.0. The morphological characterisation and elemental composition of the fabricated thin films were studied using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (SEM – EDX). Chemical bond and surface functional groups were identified using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). SEM characterisation depicted the uniform deposition of ZnO particles in the polyelectrolyte matrix. The outcome of the FTIR analysis is justified by the presence of strong C=C bonds favouring the strength of bilayer deposition. A comparative study on the degradation efficiency was carried out using oil refinery effluents for the photo degradation of ZnO/PSS/PAH thin films and suspension form of ZnO by varying the process parameters such as number of bilayers and contact time. The ZnO/Polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films performed extremely well in reducing the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Total Organic carbon (TOC) to the standards. A maximum COD removal efficiency of 80.1% was obtained at conditions where PAH/(PSS, ZnO)5 bilayers were used at pH 7.2 with a contact time of 120 minutes. The total organic carbon removal was around 55% under optimum conditions of pH 7.2 and PAH/(PSS, ZnO)5 at 120 minutes. This study illustrates that immobilised zinc oxide nanoparticles can effectively remove pollutants from oily wastewater and the process seems to be attractive in the environmental applications.

Structure and stability of GaS, GaTe, and Janus-Ga2STe multi-walled nanotubes. Molecular mechanics simulation

For the first time, the structural and stability properties of multi-walled GaS, GaTe, and Janus Ga 2 STe nanotubes have been simulated using molecular-mechanics calculations. The armchair and zigzag nanotubes with different wall numbers and diameters have been considered. The force field used for GaS, GaTe and Ga 2 STe multi-walled nanotubes is based on the interaction potentials recently developed to describe monolayers of the transition and post-transition metal chalcogenides. The Buckingham potentials have been introduced to model the interlayer and interwall interactions. The results of quantum mechanical calculations for a number of bulk crystals, mono and bilayers, as well as small diameter single-wall nanotubes have been employed to check the validity of the proposed force field. With the help of an adapted force field, large eight-walled nanotubes with an outer diameter of 32 nm were simulated, which at present cannot be studied using the first principles of quantum mechanical methods. Molecular mechanics simulations predict the faceted structure of armchair GaS, GaTe, and Ga 2 STe multi-walled nanotubes with a sufficiently large diameter and a cylindrical structure for all zigzag nanotubes. The Janus nanotubes' stability is superior to that of binary nanotubes and may probably achieve a maximum at certain wall numbers and diameters. • Janus Ga 2 STe multi-walled nanotubes are more stable than GaS, GaTe MWNTs • Formation energy dependence on diameter has a minimum for Janus MWNTs • Ga 2 STe armchair nanotubes with more than six walls acquire a faceted structure • Zigzag Janus Ga 2 STe multi-walled nanotubes have a circular cross-section • Zigzag multi-walled nanotubes are more stable than armchair ones

Assembly and Transport Properties of Nanoscale Biopolyelectrolyte Multilayers

Nanoscale coatings are attractive for managing the biological/material interface as well as for transport control in medical device applications. Construction of biologically derived and mimicking polyelectrolyte multilayers (BioPEMs) and their chemically crosslinked derivatives was evaluated at the nanometer scale and the glucose mass transfer properties were characterized in a physiological environment. Glucose diffusivity through all the BioPEMs was found to be three to four orders of magnitude lower than that of bare substrate. In contrast, permeation rates (dC/dt) were significantly higher than when compared to films comprising the same number of bilayers of synthetic materials—poly(acrylic acid)/poly(allylamine hydrochloride). Crosslinked BioPEMs exhibited decreased diffusivity of glucose up to 51% compared to native BioPEMs. These findings provide fundamental insight into the transport properties of BioPEM coatings that may be useful in maximizing biomimetic properties while also controlling permeation of small molecules in applications such as sensors, filtration, and drug delivery systems.

Design of reflective phase retarders in the extreme ultraviolet based on chirped Mo/Si multilayer mirrors.

The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) phase retarder is an important optical element for polarization analysis and conversion of EUV synchrotron radiation. In this paper, a linearly chirped Mo/Si multilayer mirror is used to design an EUV phase retarder. With increasing thickness variation of the chirped multilayer, the reflective phase retardation between s- and p-polarized light increases at first and then reaches its maximum value. When the bilayer number increases from 2 to 20, the maximum phase retardation for an EUV source with a photon energy of 90 eV increases from 5.97° to 245.10° for a linearly chirped Mo/Si multilayer with 14.7 nm central thickness. In addition, the phase retardations of chirped mirrors at different photon energies (80 eV, 85 eV and 90 eV) are also investigated and compared. Furthermore, the physical mechanism of reflective phase retardation improvement is also studied by investigating the field intensity distributions inside chirped mirrors.

Microstructure and Properties of WB2/Cr Multilayer Films with Different Bilayer Numbers Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

Microstructure and Properties of WB2/Cr Multilayer Films with Different Bilayer Numbers Deposited by Magnetron Sputtering

Self-assembled bio-based coatings for flame-retardant and antibacterial polyester–cotton fabrics

There are many defects in the post finishing flame-retardant modification of polyester–cotton (CT) fabric, leading to shortcomings such as single function and low flame-retardant efficiency, which still need to be solved urgently. Herein, a bio-based flame-retardant and antibacterial coating consisting of phytic acid and DL-arginine was deposited on CT fabrics using layer-by-layer assembly to obtain a flame-retardant and antibacterial CT fabric. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed that the assembled coating was successful deposited on the CT fabric. The thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the number of bilayers had no significant effect on the degradation temperature of the coated CT fabric; however, it significantly improved the charring effect of the sample, wherein the char rate of the CT fabric coated with 20 bilayers increased from 0.11 to 8.67 wt% compared with uncoated CT fabric at 700°C. In addition, the limiting oxygen index of the CT fabric coated with 20 bilayers increased to 32.0 ± 0.3%. Furthermore, the vertical results revealed that the CT fabric coated with five bilayers attained the UL-94 V-1 grade. The heat release rate (HRR) and the total heat release (THR) of the coated CT fabric were significantly decreased compared to those of the uncoated CT fabric. In particular, the HRR and THR of the CT fabric coated with five bilayers reduced by 28.97% and 30.49%, respectively. Furthermore, the coated CT fabric exhibited an obvious antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus, and the inhibitory ring increased from 0 to 4.0 mm with an increase in bilayers to 20. This study describes a facile method of flame-retardant and antibacterial modification of CT fabric using biological materials.

Fabrication, characterization and application of polymer based nanomaterials in the removal of pollutants from industrial effluents

In this research, multilayer nano thin films fabricated using poly (allyl amine hydrochloride) (PAH), TiO 2 and poly (styrene sulphonate sodium salt) (PSS), on silica template by Layer-by-Layer (L-b-L) technique and its potential application for the photo degradation of textile and oil refinery wastewater under solar irradiation has been reported. TiO 2 nanoparticles of size less than 5 nm were synthesized using modified sol–gel method and the characterization of the particles are performed using Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR). The L-b-L assembly was carried out at pH 2.5 and the development of the thin layers was investigated using UV/Vis spectrophotometer at an absorbance of 230 nm. The morphological characterization of the fabricated film was analyzed using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). A comparative study has been carried out using textile and oil refinery effluents for the photo degradation of TiO 2 /PSS/PAH thin films and suspension form of TiO 2 by varying the process parameters such as number of bilayers, polymer concentration and solar irradiation time. The TiO 2 /Polyelectrolyte multilayer thin films performed extremely well in the reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) to the standards. The five-bilayer film considerably reduced the TOC and COD to 85% and 87%, respectively. In TiO 2 suspension form, a reduction in TOC and COD was observed to be 70% and 73.5%, respectively. This study illustrates that immobilized nanoparticles could effectively remove pollutants from wastewater and the process seems to be attractive in the environmental applications. • In this research Novel nanomaterial’s are fabricated using polymers and nanoparticles. • Fabricated Nano thin films are applied in effluent treatment applications. • Glass slide was used template for the preparation of nano thin films by Layer-by-Layer (L-b-L). • The potential application of thin films for the photo degradation of textile and oil refinery wastewater under solar irradiation has been reported.

Investigating the potential of ammonium retention by graphene oxide ceramic nanofiltration membranes for the treatment of semiconductor wastewater

Ceramic membranes with high chemical and fouling resistance can play a critical role in treating industrial wastewater. In the present study, we demonstrate the fabrication of graphene oxide (GO) assembled ceramic nanofiltration (NF) membranes that provide effective ammonium retention and excellent fouling resistance for treating semiconductor wastewater. The GO-ceramic NF membranes were prepared via a layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of GO and polyethyleneimine (PEI) on a ceramic ultrafiltration (UF) substrate. The successful fabrication of the GO-ceramic NF membranes was verified through surface characterization and pore size evaluation. We also investigated the performance of GO-ceramic NF membranes assembled with different numbers of bilayers for the rejection of ammonium ions. GO-ceramic NF membranes with three GO-PEI bilayers exhibited 8.4- and 3.2-times higher ammonium removal with simulated and real semiconductor wastewater, respectively, compared to the pristine ceramic UF substrate. We also assessed flux recovery after filtration using real semiconductor wastewater samples to validate the lower fouling potential of the GO-ceramic NF membranes. Results indicate that flux recovery increases from 39.1 % in the pristine UF substrate to 71.0 % and 90.8 % for the three- and ten-bilayers GO-ceramic NF membranes, respectively. The low-fouling GO-ceramic NF membranes developed in this study are effective and promising options for the removal of ammonium ions from semiconductor wastewater.

Modeling the half-metallicity of the CrN/GaN (1 1 1) heterostructure

Spin-polarized total-energy calculations are employed to investigate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of the CrN epitaxial growth on the GaN (1 1 1) surface. Cr adsorption and incorporation were considered as initial stages. The adsorption takes place at high symmetry sites, and in the incorporation, Cr replaces Ga. The structures stability is studied with the surface formation energy (SFE) formalism. Results show that in the range from Ga-rich to Ga-poor conditions, and from Cr-rich to Cr-intermediate conditions, the ferromagnetic CrN monolayer is the most stable structure. The interface shows half-metal characteristics, where the minority spins displays a large band-gap. When depositing extra CrN layers, the structure displays the CrN rock-salt phase as the most stable configuration. The epitaxial growth of 2 and 3 CrN layers depicts antiferromagnetic (AFM) characteristics; moreover the interface remains with half-metal properties and Dirac-cone-like features. However, the band-gap of the minority spins is reduced, therefore, it is expected that a large number of CrN bilayers could drive the system to a half-metal to metallic transition. Calculations establish a strategy to generate 100% polarized carriers injection to GaN, which poses this CrN/GaN (1 1 1)||(1 1 1) heterostructure as a component to construct spintronic devices.

Influence of bilayers period on mechanical properties of TaNx/TaCx multilayers obtained by direct current magnetron sputtering

In this paper, the mechanical properties of TaNx/TaCx bilayers obtained by direct current magnetron sputtering are studied. The materials were manufactured by stacking bilayers formed by the periodic alternation TaN and TaC. Initially, samples of 40 bilayers were produced varying the deposition temperature (200, 300, 400 and 500°C), finding the best mechanical properties for the sample grown at 500°C; after that, the number of bilayers was varied, taking values of 10, 20, 40, 80 and 160. Transmission electron microscopy images show the layers formation and thicknesses between 1.2 and 1.6 µm. In addition, X-ray diffraction patterns were acquired to observe the crystalline structure of samples produced varying the number of bilayers. Hardness was related to the preferential orientation and the competition between surface free energy and strain energy. The sample exhibiting the greatest hardness was obtained with 40 bilayers, in which, there is an equilibrium between both energies.

Evolution of the interface microstructure of short-period Cr/Ti multilayers with increase in number of bi-layers

Evolution of interface microstructure with addition of more number of layers has been investigated on Cr/Ti multilayer which is important for application as a mirror or monochromator in the “water window” soft X-ray spectral regime. Two sets of Cr/Ti multilayers at moderate and low bi-layer thickness regime have been prepared for this purpose using Ion Beam Sputtering technique. In one set, Cr/Ti multilayer with 25, 50, 60 and 100 numbers of bilayers with moderate bi-layer thickness of 3.8 nm have been deposited. In another set, four samples each having low bilayer thickness of 2.4 nm with 25, 50, 75 and 100 number of bi-layers have been prepared and the multilayers have subsequently been characterized with Specular X-ray reflectivity and diffuse X-ray scattering measurements at grazing incidence with hard X-rays. It is observed that cumulative effect of interface imperfections became more pronounced with increasing number of bilayers resulting in continuous increase in the interface width in both the thickness regimes; however, its evolution is not exactly same for the two sets of samples. Diffuse X-ray scattering result reveals that for the first set of samples, interface imperfections are dominated by interface roughness with no change in the interface diffusion with increase in number of layers, while for the second set, both interface roughness as well as interface diffusion contribute towards the cumulative accumulation of interface imperfections which is also confirmed by cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy. Finally, performance of the multilayers in water window regime has been checked by soft X-ray reflectivity measurements using synchrotron radiation. The above results have direct implication in utilisation of these multilayers over a wide bi-layer thickness regime required to cover the full ‘water-window’ spectrum.

Design of GaAs nanowires array based photovoltaic solar cells: Simulations of optical reflectance

We report the optical response of a periodic square array of GaAs nanowires embedded in epoxy as a candidate for photovoltaic solar cells. The simulated system is a multilayer array constituted by alternating layers of epoxy and an effective medium constituted by GaAs nanowires arrays embedded in epoxy. To discuss the optical response, we investigate the reflectance dependence on the number of bilayers considered in the array and the angle of incident light. The GaAs nanowire dielectric function is described in terms of Webb formalism to take into account the confinement energy of the excitons. The effective dielectric function of GaAs nanowires embedded in epoxy is evaluated within the Maxwell–Garnett theory. We evaluate the reflectance for s- and p-polarized light through the transfer matrix formalism for n bilayers. For both s- and p-polarization, we observe an oscillating behavior of the reflectance, similar to that reported in the literature. We have also obtained a feature peaked around 850 nm. While the oscillations can be ascribed to multiple interference from periodic bilayers, the peak at 850 nm can be understood in term of the gap energy in the nanowire dielectric function. Attending to the reflectance dependence on the light incidence angle, we have found that for s-polarized light, the reflectance is higher with increasing angles, in comparison to p-polarized light cases.

Graphene Oxide Layer-by-Layer Films for Sensors and Devices.

Layer-by-layer films of poly (allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and graphene oxide (GO) were characterized, looking at growth with the number of bilayers, morphology, and electrical properties. The PAH/GO films revealed a linear increase in absorbance with the increase in the number of deposited bilayers, allowing the determination that 10.7 ± 0.1 mg m−2 of GO is adsorbed per unit of area of each bilayer. GO absorption bands at 146, 210, 247 and 299 nm, assigned to π-π* and n-π* transitions in the aromatic ring (phenol) and of the carboxylic group, respectively, were characterized by vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy. The morphological characterization of these films demonstrated that they are not completely uniform, with a bilayer thickness of 10.5 ± 0.7 nm. This study also revealed that the films are composed of GO and/or PAH/GO fibers and that GO is completely adsorbed on top of PAH. The electrical properties of the films reveal that PAH/GO films present a semiconductor behavior. In addition, a slight decrease in conduction was observed when films were prepared in the presence of visible light, likely due to the presence of oxygen and moisture that contributes to the damage of GO molecules.

Control of Surface Properties of Hyaluronan/Chitosan Multilayered Coatings for Tumor Cell Capture

Prostate cancer (PCa) is a slow-growing neoplasm that has, when diagnosed in its early stages, great chances of cure. During initial tumor development, current diagnostic methods fail to have the desired accuracy, thus, it is necessary to develop or improve current detection methods and prognostic markers for PCa. In this scenario, films composed of hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan (CHI) have demonstrated significant capture potential of prostate tumor cells (PC3 line), exploring HA as a CD44 receptor ligand and direct mediator in cell-film adhesion. Here, we present a strategy to control structural and cell adhesion properties of HA/CHI films based on film assembly conditions. Films were built via Layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition, where the pH conditions (3.0 and 5.0) and number of bilayers (3.5, 10.5, and 20.5) were controlled. The characterization of these films was carried out using profilometry, ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements. Multilayer HA/CHI films produced at pH 3.0 gave optimum surface wettability and availability of free carboxyl groups. In turn, at pH 5.0, the coverings were thinner and presented a smoother surface. Films prepared with 3.5 bilayers showed greater tumor cell capture regardless of the pH condition, while films containing 10.5 and 20.5 bilayers presented a significant swelling process, which compromised their cell adhesion potential. This study shows that surface chemistry and morphology are critical factors for the development of biomaterials designed for several cell adhesion applications, such as rapid diagnostic, cell signaling, and biosensing mechanisms.