Aggregation induced polyelectrolyte multilayer film containing cubic silsesquioxane nanoparticles

Polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films offer a method to functionalize substrates with specific properties that enable the films to be used for a variety of purposes. Desirable qualities of PEM films can include mechanical strengths, ease of preparations, flexibility, and their abilities to have their properties tailored to suit a particular process. We present a simple method to fabricate a class of PEM films that incorporate cubic silsesquioxane nanoparticles (CSSQ). Through a spin self-assembly (SSA) process, a hybrid multilayered film with two-components, namely, poly(styrene sulfonate) (PSS) and octaammonium cubic silsesquioxane (CSSQ) nanoparticle have been fabricated. The formation of this multilayer film is further verified by ellipsometry, contact angle studies, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The water contact angle and ellipsometric measurements exhibit that the (PSS/OA-CSSQ) films are deposited onto the substrate. The surface topography of the deposited bilayers of PSS/OA-CSSQ film appears to be uniformly distributed with extremely small granules but the film uniformity of the granular surface is diminished and clusters of granules are observed at above 5 bilayers due to the aggregation of the OA-CSSQ nanoparticles.