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Unconventional direct ink writing of polyelectrolyte films

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Abstract

This article focuses on fundamentally analyzing the morphology of polyelectrolyte-based layer-by-layer (LbL) films, created using an unconventional direct ink writing (u-DIW) approach that allows printing low-viscosity inks via capillary action. With two oppositely charged weak polyelectrolytes as inks and using a range of characterization techniques, we have compared the films developed using this new approach against traditional dip-coating in terms of their key morphological features. Our results suggest that the extent of polyelectrolyte interdiffusion within the films is limited in the case of the u-DIW approach causing the formation of thinner films versus dip-coating. In comparison to traditional dip-coating, u-DIW has the advantage of enabling the formation of homogenous films with equivalent properties, but with significantly lower material usage. The fundamental analyses presented in this article will likely facilitate the application of LbL in various fields ranging from separations to biomedical drug delivery.

Impact statement

There is currently a burgeoning interest to develop the next generation of large-scale thin-film advanced manufacturing for a myriad of applications, including energy and biomedical fields. Direct ink writing (DIW) can be a transformative deposition method in that it does not necessitate the need for masking, offers large-scale manufacturing capabilities, and uses relatively little ink volume (e.g., compared to a dip-coating process) with no material waste. Although DIW is a well-known method in the additive manufacturing community, currently it is largely limited to highly viscous, non-Newtonian ink printing and 3D lattice fabrication, thus not allowing thin-film fabrication. Recently, through our work, the capability of low-viscosity inks to be directly written into thin films (with textured surfaces) without the use of external stimuli and/or pneumatic pressure has been demonstrated. This is possible by only using surface forces to deposit the solution-based ink onto a substrate in the form of a thin film.

In this work, this unconventional DIW approach is used to deposit thin films comprising alternating layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes and compare them to samples made using a traditional dip-coating method. Using a range of characterization techniques, we demonstrate, for the first time, that our novel direct writing method can be used interchangeably with traditional manufacturing methods. We further show the application of this method as a membrane surface modification technique where equivalent separation properties were achieved as dip-coated membranes with ~10× lower solvent (water) usage. Beyond membranes, we believe this technique may hold the key for successfully fabricating thin films for various other applications, including drug delivery and sensors.

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Data availability

The data from this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

O.S. acknowledges West Virginia University Research Corporation for startup funds. The authors acknowledge the use of the West Virginia University Shared Research Facilities for the use of SEM and AFM.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

    Guy Jacob Cordonier & Konstantinos Sierros

  2. Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA

    KmProttoy Shariar Piash, Rebecca Erwin, Michael Ferrebee & Oishi Sanyal

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  1. Guy Jacob Cordonier
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Cordonier, G.J., Piash, K.S., Erwin, R. et al. Unconventional direct ink writing of polyelectrolyte films. MRS Bulletin 48, 720–729 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43577-022-00461-9

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