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Microfluidics as A Tool to Understand the Build‐Up Mechanism of Exponential‐Like Growing Films
Author(s) -
Madaboosi Narayanan,
Uhlig Katja,
Jäger Magnus S.,
Möhwald Helmuth,
Duschl Claus,
Volodkin Dmitry V.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.201200353
Subject(s) - microfluidics , exponential growth , polyelectrolyte , layer by layer , nanotechnology , diffusion , deposition (geology) , materials science , growth rate , exponential function , chemical engineering , layer (electronics) , mechanism (biology) , chemical physics , polymer , chemistry , composite material , physics , thermodynamics , mathematics , engineering , paleontology , mathematical analysis , geometry , quantum mechanics , sediment , biology
Microfluidics is used here for the first time to efficiently tune the growth conditions for understanding the build‐up mechanism of exponentially growing polyelectrolyte (PE) films. The velocity of PE supply and time of interaction can be successfully altered during the layer‐by‐layer assembly. Another advantage of this method is that the deposition of poly‐ L ‐lysine/hyaluronic acid (PLL/HA) films in microchannels can be monitored online by fluorescence microscopy. The study demonstrates that PE mass transport to the film surface and diffusion in the film are key parameters affecting PLL/HA film build‐up. Increase of PE supply rate results in a change in the “transition” (exponential‐to‐linear growth) towards higher number of deposition steps, thus indicating a mass transport‐mediated growth mechanism.