Comment on "Formation of polyelectrolyte multilayers: ionic strengths and growth regimes" by K. Tang and A. M. Besseling, Soft Matter, 2016, 12, 1032.
Tang and Besseling recently published a study on the growth of polyelectrolyte multilayers formed by poly(diallyl dimethylammonium chloride) PDADMAC, and the sodium salt of poly(4 styrenesulfonate) PSSNa. They described the different growth regimes appearing in the (PDADMAC PSS)n multilayers within a scenario in which the appearance of interdiffusion of the polyelectrolyte chains within the multilayer architecture plays a central role in the transition between the different regimes. However, this account contrasts, without an apparent explanation, with previous experimental evidence reported in the literature.
Soft matter