Layer-by-layer deposited organic/inorganic hybrid multilayer films containing noncentrosymmetrically orientated azobenzene chromophores

Versatile Layer-By-Layer Highly Stable Multilayer Films: Study of the Loading and Release of FITC-Labeled Short Peptide in the Drug Delivery Field

A viable short FITC-peptide immobilization is the most essential step in the fabrication of multilayer films based on FITC-peptide. These functional multilayer films have potential applications in drug delivery, medical therapy, and so forth. These FITC-peptides films needed to be handled with a lot of care and precision due to their sensitive nature. In this study, a general immobilization method is reported for the purpose of stabilizing various kinds of peptides at the interfacial regions. Utilizing Mesoporous silica nanoparticles can help in the preservation of these FITC-peptides by embedding themselves into these covalently cross-linked multilayers. This basic outlook of the multilayer films is potent enough and could be reused as a positive substrate. The spatio-temporal retention property of peptides can be modulated by varying the number of capping layers. The release speed of guest molecules such as tyrosine within FITC-peptide or/and adamantane (Ad)-in short peptides could also be fine-tuned by the specific arrangements of the multilayers of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) and hyaluronic acid- cyclodextrin (HA-CD) multilayer films.

Synthesis and characterisation of push–pull flavin dyes with efficient second harmonic generation (SHG) properties

We report push–pull flavins bearing different donor groups that exhibit high hyperpolarisabilities (β = 355–9550 × 10⁻³⁰ esu) and decomposition temperatures thereby indicating their potential application as non-linear optical device materials.

Molecular ordering of PAH/MA-co-DR13 azopolymer layer-by-layer films probed by second-harmonic generation

Molecular orientation within azopolymer thin films is important for their nonlinear optical properties and photonic applications. We have used optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) to study the molecular orientation of Layer-by-Layer (LbL) films of a cationic polyelectrolyte (poly(allylamine hydrochloride)) and an anionic polyelectrolyte containing azochromophore side groups (MA-co-DR13) on a glass substrate. The SHG measurements indicate that there is a preferential orientation of the azochromophores in the film, leading to a significant optical nonlinearity. However, both the signal strength and its anisotropy are not homogeneous throughout the sample, indicating the presence of large orientational domains. This is corroborated with Brewster angle microscopy. The average SHG signal does not increase with film thickness, in contrast to some reports in the literature, indicating an independent orientational order for successive bilayers. Analyzing the SHG signal as a function of the input and output polarizations, a few parameters of the azochromophore orientational distribution can be deduced. Fitting the SHG signal to a simple model distribution, we have concluded that the chromophores have an angular distribution with a slight in-plane anisotropy and a mean polar angle ranging from 45° to 80° with respect to substrate normal direction, with a relatively large width of about 25°. These results show that SHG is a powerful technique for a detailed investigation of the molecular orientation in azopolymer LbL films, allowing a deeper understanding of their self-assembling mechanism and nonlinear optical properties. The inhomogeneity and anisotropy of these films may have important consequences for their applications in nonlinear optical devices.

Modulation of the optical properties of D-π-A type azobenzene derivatives by changing the π-conjugated backbones: A theoretical study

The optical properties of two series of azobenzene derivatives were modulated by backbone modifications with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Compared to the short-chain molecule, the chromophore with an elongated π-bridge exhibits a greater extent of charge transfer during one-photon excitation and hence possesses a larger molecular first hyperpolarizability (β0). Meanwhile, an evident red-shift in the maximum absorption was observed after extension of the π-conjugated backbone. The tendency of the static β0 value derived from the two-state model is consistent with the result of the calculation at M06-2X/6–311++G(d,p) level by means of analytical derivative method. The dynamic perturbations were revealed to cause the obvious enhancement of the first hyperpolarizability. The more closer the foundational wavelength to two times the value of the maximum absorption in one-photon transition, the larger βRHS value is observed for the chromophore. The nonlinear optical (NLO) properties augment with the introduction of the THF solvents by comparing the gas-phase values. With increasing the length of conjugated bridge, the dynamic βRHS value increases more rapidly in THF solution than in vacuum.

Organic and Inorganic Dyes in Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Films

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.

Layer-by-layer electrostatic assembly with a control over orientation of molecules: anisotropy of electrical conductivity and dielectric properties

While forming layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic assembly of a magnetic organic molecule, namely, nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc), we apply a magnetic field. The field orients the magnetic moment of the molecules on a monolayer along the direction of magnetic field. Such an orientation of the molecules is then electrostatically immobilized with a monolayer of a polycation. By repeating the dipping cycle, we form LbL films with planar NiPc molecules facing a particular direction. With NiPc's moment perpendicular to the molecular plane, two types of LbL films were formed: (a) NiPc's molecular plane parallel to the substrate (moment is perpendicular) and (b) molecules perpendicular to the substrate and facing one particular direction, the direction of magnetic field. Such films, with the molecules lying either (a) parallel or (b) perpendicular to the substrate, provide unique systems to study anisotropy of optical, dielectric, and electrical characteristics in these planar organic molecules. The latter film responds to the polarization of incident beam in electronic absorption spectroscopy. Here we show methods to obtain an orientation of molecules in LbL films and study anisotropy of dielectric constant and conductivity of the molecules in ultrathin films.

Selective positioning of organic dyes in a mesoporous inorganic oxide film

Although sequential adsorption of dyes in a single TiO(2) electrode is ideal to extend the range of light absorption in dye-sensitized solar cells, high-temperature processing has so far limited its application. We report a method for selective positioning of organic dye molecules with different absorption ranges in a mesoporous TiO(2) film by mimicking the concept of the stationary phase and the mobile phase in column chromatography, where polystyrene-filled mesoporous TiO(2) film is explored for use as a stationary phase and a Brønsted-base-containing polymer solution is developed for use as a mobile phase for selective desorption of the adsorbed dye. By controlling the desorption and adsorption depth, yellow, red and green dyes were vertically aligned within a TiO(2) film, which is confirmed by an electron probe micro-analyser. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) spectrum from a solar cell with three selectively positioned dyes reveals the EQE characteristics of each single-dye cell.

Molecular orientation in self-assembled multilayers measured by second harmonic generation using femtosecond pulses

We present measurements of the optical second-harmonic generation in self assembled multilayer films of PAZO/PAH polymers with the aim to investigate molecular order in the layer-by-layer architecture. The experiments are performed in transmission, using a femtosecond Ti:Sa pulsed laser, which allows a more accurate determination of the amplitude of the second harmonic signal, without interference fringes usually present in nanosecond experiments. We found that the first bilayer, in contact with the substrate, presents a broad distribution of the orientation of the molecules, while the addition of successive bilayers (up to 12) produces ordering of the molecules with a small tilt angle respect to the surface normal. This result, together with the monotonic increment of the second harmonic signal with the number of layers indicates that the molecules grow orderly assembled in these films.

Layer-by-layer deposition of polyelectrolyte-polyelectrolyte complexes for multilayer film fabrication

Positively charged poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) complexes (noted as PAH-PAA) with a molar excess of PAH were layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled with polyanion poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) to produce multilayer films. The film structure and deposition behavior of the PAH-PAA/PSS films were influenced by the structure of PAH-PAA complexes in solution. For the PAH-PAA complexes with a low ratio of PAA to PAH the PAH-PAA complexes have low-level cross-linking and are flexible. The resultant PAH-PAA/PSS films have a thin film thickness and smooth surface and exhibit a nonlinear deposition behavior where the amount of PAH-PAA complexes and PSS deposited in each deposition cycle are larger than in its previous cycle. The PAH-PAA complexes with a high ratio of PAA to PAH have high-level cross-linking and are rigid. The PAH-PAA/PSS films constructed from the rigid PAH-PAA complexes have a large film thickness and rough surface and exhibit a linear deposition behavior. Deposition of the PAH-PAA/PSS films was well characterized by quartz crystal microbalance, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The thermally cross-linked PAH-PAA/PSS films can be released from substrate to form stable free-standing films by an ion-triggered exfoliation method. Meanwhile, positively charged PAH-PAA complexes can be LbL assembled with negatively charged PAH-PAA complexes with a molar excess of PAA to produce multilayer films. Use of polyelectrolyte-polyelectrolyte complexes as building blocks for LbL fabrication provides a facile way to tailor the structures of the resultant films by simply changing the structure of the complexes in solution.

Bridged coordination polymer multilayers with tunable properties

Coordination multilayers consisting of Pd(II) pincer-type complexes and poly(vinyl pyridine) were synthesized and characterized. Film properties were found to be dependent on and could be tuned by varying bath deposition concentrations, polymer molecular weight, and solution additives that compete with binding. Generally, smoother, thinner films were obtained with lower poly(vinyl pyridine) deposition bath concentrations. Likewise, film thickness and roughness could be reduced by employing a higher-molecular-weight poly(vinyl pyridine). Film properties could also be influenced by using acetonitrile as a solution additive, effectively driving the binding equilibrium slightly toward the free species.