Assembly of ultrathin polymer multilayer films by click chemistry

Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly is a versatile and robust technique for fabricating tailored thin films of diverse composition. Herein we report a new method of covalent coupling, click chemistry, to facilitate the LbL assembly of thin films. Linear film growth was observed using both UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy, and film thicknesses were determined by ellipsometry and atomic force microscopy. The assembled films are shown to be stable in a wide pH range. This technique offers the potential to enable the synthesis of new types of stable and responsive LbL films from a variety of polymers.