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a) b - École Polytechnique de Montréal

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important factors <strong>de</strong>termining the growth regime of a system are ionic strength and pH of the<br />

solution. Varying these parameters can change a linear growth regime for a given system to an<br />

exponential system(Lavalle, et al., 2002).<br />

2.4.1.1.8.2 Overcompensation due to the Addition of Salt<br />

In the second case, salt concentration is responsible for overcompensation of the multilayer<br />

surface. Salt concentration of the solution used for <strong>de</strong>position has been found to be the most<br />

important variable <strong>de</strong>termining mass <strong>de</strong>posited and multilayer thickness(G. Decher, 1997). Ion<br />

exchange phenomena in multilayers occur and displace small salt counterions by charged<br />

polymer segments. Displacement of salt ions and polymer charge pairs compensates any excess<br />

surface charge. Salt counterion profile visualizes overcompensation gradient as the excess<br />

polymer charge is balanced by small salt ions(Na + or Cl - )(Klitzing & Moehwald, 1995). At lowsalt<br />

concentrations, the surface charge is completely compensated by the polymer charge. In the<br />

absence of salt, the excess surface charge vanishes since the electrostatic free energy diverges. At<br />

high-salt concentration, the salt compensates some of the surface charge, resulting in a <strong>de</strong>crease<br />

in the amount of adsorbed polymer.<br />

This has been <strong>de</strong>scribed in <strong>de</strong>tail for two cases: a strong polyelectrolyte system<br />

(PSS/PDADMAC)(Schlenoff & Dubas, 2001) and a weak polyacid (PAA/PDADMAC)(Dubas<br />

& Schlenoff, 2001a), which exhibits gradual dissociation. In both cases, adsorbed amount is<br />

<strong>de</strong>termined by the surface charge due to salt concentration. In the former case, a constant surface<br />

charge during multilayer buildup for strongly dissociated polyelectrolytes was observed. In this<br />

mechanism, on each step the level of overcompensation is constant and proportional to a steadystate<br />

thickness increment, and only the surface charge signs reverse. Addition of salt to the<br />

solution increases the overcompensation charge. In the case of strong polyelectrolyte systems,<br />

overcompensation is related to salt concentration and proportional excess charge penetration into<br />

multilayer controls the film growth.<br />

Addition of salt within the polyelectrolyte solution causes an ion exchange process and<br />

polymer/polymer ion pairs are forced apart. At this step, small salt counterions displace charged<br />

polymer segments and make polymers highly swollen because of the water of hydration which is<br />

brought in with the salt. In this case, it is required to have a few polymer/polymer ion pairs that<br />

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