A simple strategy was developed based on the alternating chemisorption of a reactive polymer and a dye bearing two different complementary reactive groups, to obtain stable thin dye-functionalized polymeric films. These films were grown on a precoating made by electrostatic self-assembly. Film growth is linear according to UV-VIS spectroscopy and ellipsometry. Films assembled from 10 deposition cycles show a thickness of 28 nm with a roughness of 4.5 nm (rms) as measured by small angle X-ray reflectivity, this means they are molecularly thin. The chromophores seem to realign upon adding a new layer of polymer as probed with UV-VIS spectroscopy. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Koetse, M., Kotzev, A., LASCHEWSKY, A., & Jonas, A. (2001). Polymeric films from the alternating chemisorption of poly(vinylbenzylchloride) and a 4 ’-hydroxystilbazole dye. Materials Science and Engineering C: Biomimetic Materials, Sensors and Systems, 18(1-2), 239-242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0928-4931(01)00366-6 (Original work published 2001)