The build-up of polyelectrolyte or colloid particle multilayers on latex surfaces

Succesive additions of anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes or charged col loid particles may lead to the formation of functional multilayer assemblie s. The build-up of such multilayers is characterised by a step-wise increas e of adsorbed amount and layer thickness, and by alternating highly positiv e and highly negative values of the C-potential of the substrate particles. The stability of the multilayer is shown to depend strongly on the ionic s pecies and the concentration of added salt, on the electrostatic interactio ns between the polymers, and these between polymer and adsorbent surface. T he formation of multilayers including solid particles was found to be rathe r sensitive to the particle size and dispersity of the component particles. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.