Hybrid organic-inorganic nanostructures fabricated from layer-by-layer self-assembled multilayers of hyperbranched polyglycerols and phosphorus dendrimers

Multilayer thin films of cationic phosphorous dendrimers and anionic hyperbranched polyglycerols were fabricated by electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly (SA). The film formation was monitored by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and UV-visible spectroscopy, and it was found that the stepwise, alternating deposition results in a linear growth up to four bilayers. Hybrid organic-TiO ₂ nanostructures were generated by exposing the supramolecular multilayers to TiCl ₄ precursors. The amounts of TiO ₂ incorporated inside the scaffolds could be tuned by controlling the porosity of the multilayers with the addition of a small amount of salts. The resulting hybrid films exhibit characteristic photoluminescence (PL) properties.