Films grown from polyamines and reactive dyes by alternating polyelectrolyte adsorption/surface activation (CoMPAS)

Coatings by multiple polyelectrolyte adsorption/surface activation (CoMPAS) is a new method to form thin polymer films by alternating the physisorption of polyelectrolytes with a surface activation process using oppositely charged reagents. Here, we show that CoMPAS is also applicable for simple polyamines and reactive dyes. The amines serve simultaneously as cationic centers for adsorption and as reactive groups for the dyes. Film growth is linear according to UV–Vis spectroscopy and ellipsometry. Second harmonic generation (SHG) experiments were performed to study the ordering of the chromophores in the films.