SELF-ASSEMBLY FILMS OF POLYACIDS AND DOPED POLY(O-ALKOXYANILINES)

The self-assembly (SA) technique has been employed to fabricate ultra-thin films of poly(o-alkoxyanilines) (POAAs) alternated with polyacids. Films were produced from alternated layers of doped poly(o-methoxyaniline) (POMA) and poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSS), doped POMA and poly(vinyl sulfonic acid) (PVS), and doped poly(o-ethoxyaniline) (POEA) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The build-up of the multilayer structure was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy which showed that the absorbance increases linearly with the number of deposited bi-layers for the three systems. In these SA films the polyacid may act as a dopant for the POAA promoting Donnan phenomenon effects. The films could be doped and dedoped in a reversible fashion by being immersed into solutions of different pHs.