About different types of water in swollen polyelectrolyte multilayers

The review addresses swelling of polyelectrolyte multilayers in water. Different models for the determination of the water content are compared. It is clearly shown that voids under dry conditions present cavities for water which contribute to the water content of the multilayer in the swollen state. This so-called “void water” does not lead to any changes in thickness but in scattering length density during swelling. The “swelling water” leads to both changes in scattering length density and in thickness. Depending on the preparation conditions like the type polymers, polymer charge density, ionic strength and type of salt the ratio of “void water” differs between 1 and 15 vol.% while the amount of “swelling water” is of several ten's of vol.%.     

Dynamics of Spontaneous Electric Field Domains in a Two-Dimensional Electron System Irradiated by Microwaves and the Conductance of a Donor Layer

The temperature dependence of the switching frequency of a microwave-induced spontaneous electric field forming a domain structure and the conductance of a doping layer that provides electrons to the two-dimensional electron system have been measured on samples fabricated from the same GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. Both quantities have been found to obey the thermally activated dependence (Arrhenius law) with close activation energies. This result indicates a relation between the quantities and confirms a hypothesis that the observed dynamics of the domain structure originates from the dynamical screening of the spontaneous electric field of domains by charges in the doping layer.     

Effect of anionic surfactant on alginate‐chitosan polyelectrolyte multilayer thickness

Alginate and chitosan are among the most common biopolyelectrolytes. Surfactants can be included in alginate and chitosan formulations in order to improve their physical and functional properties. In the present study, the effect of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on alginate‐chitosan polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films is reported for the first time. Layer‐by‐layer deposition technique was employed to prepare the PEM samples and the samples were characterized by ellipsometry, X‐ray reflectivity, atomic force microscopy, and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation. Incorporation of SDS into PEM formulations increased the film thickness and an increased adsorption behavior between alginate and chitosan layers are observed. Since the concentration of SDS was below its critical micelle concentration, no micelle formation was expected and hydrophobic‐hydrophobic interaction between alginate and SDS might be the main reason. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1798–1803     

Quantum oscillations in p-type inversion layers of (111) and (100) silicon field effect transistors

For the first time Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations have been observed in p-type inversion layers of (111) and (100) silicon field effect transistors. For both orientations a single electric subband was found. The effective mass of the surface carriers was determined from the temperature dependence of the oscillations, for (111) surfaces as a function of the surface electric field. At low gate voltages spin splitting of the Landau levels was resolved.