Melanin‐Containing Films: Growth from Dopamine Solutions versus Layer‐by‐Layer Deposition |
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| Authors: | Falk Bernsmann Dr Ovidiu Ersen Dr Jean‐Claude Voegel Edward Jan Prof Nicholas A Kotov Prof Vincent Ball |
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| Institution: | 1. Unité Mixte de Recherche 977, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, 11 rue Humann, 67085 Strasbourg Cedex (France), Fax: (+33) 3688 53379;2. Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7504, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 23 rue du Loess, 67087 Strasbourg (France);3. Université de Strasbourg, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 1 Place de l'H?pital, 67000 Strasbourg (France);4. Department of Material Sciences and Engineering and Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (USA);5. Advanced Materials and Structures, Centre de Recherche Public Henri Tudor, L‐4006 Esch‐sur‐Alzette (Luxembourg) |
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| Abstract: | Films formed by oxidation of dopamine are of interest for functionalisation of solid–liquid interfaces owing to their versatility. However, the ability to modulate the properties of such films, for example, permeability to ionic species and the absorption coefficient, is urgently needed. Indeed, melanin films produced by oxidation of dopamine absorb strongly over the whole UV/Vis part of the electromagnetic spectrum and are impermeable to anions even for a film thickness as low as a few nanometers. Herein we combine oxidation of dopamine to produce a solution containing dopamine–melanin particles and their alternating deposition with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) to produce films which have nearly the same morphology as pure dopamine–melanin films but are less compact, more transparent and more permeable to ferrocyanide anions. |
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| Keywords: | biopolymers layer‐by‐layer deposition materials science melanin thin films |
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