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SYPE: Symposium Polyelectrolytes
SYPE 1: Polyelectrolytes Poster
SYPE 1.1: Poster
Wednesday, March 28, 2007, 16:00–18:30, Poster B
Hollow Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Tubes: Preparation and mechanical charaterisation — •Renate Müller1, Lars Dähne2, and Fery Andreas1 — 1Max-Planck-Institut für Kolloid- und Grenzflächenforschung, Wissenschaftspark Golm, 14424 Potsdam — 2Capsulution NanoScience AG, Volmerstr. 7b, 12489 Berlin
Tubelike hollow structures are of considerable interest for material science, as they can serve as channels for microfluidics, can be easily assembled to meshes for filtration/ sensing or serve as scaffolds for growing tissue, since they provide a high stability in combination with a low weight. Also possible is an encapsulation of chemicals inside the tubes.
Here we present a new route for the preparation of tubes with micrometer sized dimensions by using the well-known Layer-by-Layer technique [1], which enables us to control the wall thickness within few nm and depending on the composition of the multilayer either ending up in stable tubes or a bubble necklace like structure [2]. We characterised the tubes with Fluorescence Microscopy and CLSM, the wall thickness was determined by AFM imaging. The walls' permeability was also studied. The tubes mechanical properties were determined with the AFM colloidal probe technique [3], which were found to be dependent on the AFM probing position and yielded a Young's Modulus of 200 MPa.
1. Decher G. Science 1997; 277 (5330): 1232-1237./ 2. Mueller R, et al. Polymer 2006: submitted./ 3. Fery A, et al. New Journal of Physics 2004; 6: 18-31.