We report a facile and versatile approach to fabricate polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films with chemically modifiable outer surface. A PEM film was prepared by layer-by-layer assembly of poly (2-aminoethyl methacrylate) (PAMA) polymethacrylic acid (PMAA), terminated partially tert-butyloxycarbonyl (Boc)-protected random copolymer (PAMA-co-PBocAMA) as the final layer. The obtained then cross-...

We investigate the phenomenon of multilayer formation via layer-by-layer deposition of alternating charged polyelectrolytes. Using mean-field theory, we find that a strong short-range attraction between the two types of polymer chains is essential for the formation of multilayers. For strong enough short-range attraction, the adsorbed amount per layer increases (after an initial decrease), and ...