TY  - JOUR
U1  - Zeitschriftenartikel, wissenschaftlich - begutachtet (reviewed)
A1  - Andreeva, Tonya
A1  - Drieschner, Tobias
A1  - Golovko, Dmytro
A1  - Lorenz, Anita
A1  - Rebner, Karsten
A1  - Krastev, Rumen
T1  - Process validation and a new method for quality control of ultrathin polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings
JF  - Colloids and surfaces : an international journal devoted to the principles and applications of colloid and interface science. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects
N2  - The properties of polyelectrolyte multilayers are ruled by the process parameters employed during self-assembly. This is the first study in which a design of experiment approach was used to validate and control the production of ultrathin polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings by identifying the ranges of critical process parameters (polyelectrolyte concentration, ionic strength and pH) within which coatings with reproducible properties (thickness, refractive index and hydrophilicity) are created. Mathematical models describing the combined impact of key process parameters on coatings properties were developed demonstrating that only ionic strength and pH affect the coatings thickness, but not polyelectrolyte concentration. While the electrolyte concentration had a linear effect, the pH contribution was described by a quadratic polynomial. A significant contribution of this study is the development of a new approach to estimate the thickness of polyelectrolyte multilayer nanofilms by quantitative rhodamine B staining, which might be useful in all cases when ellipsometry is not feasible due to the shape complexity or small size of the coated substrate. The novel approach proposed here overcomes the limitations of known methods as it offers a low spatial sampling size and the ability to analyse a wide area without restrictions on the chemical composition and shape of the substrate.
Y1  - 2023
SN  - 0927-7757
SS  - 0927-7757
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.132157
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.132157
VL  - 676
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -