Ordered polyelectrolyte "Multilayers". 7. Hybrid films self-assembled from fluorescent and smectogenic poly(diallylammonium) salts and delaminated clay

Homopolymers were prepared from diallylammonium monomers bearing 4-methylcoumarin and 4-cyanobiphenyl as fluorescent and mesogenic side groups, as well as their copolymers with diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC). Organic-inorganic hybrid films were electrostatically self-assembled via the layer-by-layer technique on silicon wafers and quartz plates from the chromophore-bearing polymers and an exfoliated synthetic hectorite. Photophysical studies performed in solution as well as in the self-assembled films demonstrated only a weak tendency for aggregation of the chromophores in the macromolecules. Moreover, assemblies made from the polymers carrying the cyanobiphenyl mesogen were found to exhibit a pronounced internal order.