Viscosity of polyelectrolytes solutions in nanofilms.

We use a thin film pressure balance to probe the rheological properties of thin liquid films. These films are made from mixed aqueous solutions of surfactants and polyelectrolytes. They drain under applied pressure in a noncontinuous way due to a stratification process of the polyelectrolytes network. The stratification kinetics was studied for films stabilized by different surfactants. Using a theoretical model, it is possible to examine the effect of both the surfactant and the film thickness on the local dissipation. On one hand, it was observed that dissipation depends on the polyelectrolyte concentration only, regardless whether the surfactant is neutral or bears electric charges opposite to those of the polyelectrolyte. On the other hand, it was found that dissipation is stronger in thinner films.

Growth behaviour and mechanical properties of PLL/HA multilayer films studied by AFM.

Scanning- and colloidal-probe atomic force microscopy were used to study the mechanical properties of poly(L-lysine)/hyaluronan (PLL/HA)(n) films as a function of indentation velocity and the number of polymer deposition steps n. The film thickness was determined by two independent AFM-based methods: scratch-and-scan and newly developed full-indentation. The advantages and disadvantages of both methods are highlighted, and error minimization techniques in elasticity measurements are addressed. It was found that the film thickness increases linearly with the bilayer number n, ranging between 400 and 7500 nm for n = 12 and 96, respectively. The apparent Young's modulus E ranges between 15 and 40 kPa and does not depend on the indenter size or the film bilayer number n. Stress relaxation measurements show that PLL/HA films have a viscoelastic behaviour, regardless of their thickness. If indentation is performed several times at the same lateral position on the film, a viscous/plastic deformation takes place.