Superhydrophobic polymer multilayers that promote the extended, long-term release of embedded water-soluble agents.

Manna, Uttam; Kratochvil, Michael J; Lynn, David M · Adv Mater · 2013

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Polymer multilayers that exhibit surface and bulk superhydrophobicity are demonstrated to promote long-term release of water-soluble agents (for ca.1 year) when submerged in water. The extremely nonwetting nature of these materials prevents rapid influx of water, addressing a key limitation inherent to polyelectrolytebased multilayers that release imbedded agents quickly. Our results provide new and potentially general principles for the design of surface coatings in the context of controlled release.