Layer-by-layer assembly of polysaccharide-based nanostructured surfaces containing polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles

Nanoscale chemical and topographical features have been demonstrated to influence a variety of significant responses of mammalian cells to biomaterials surfaces. Thus, an important goal for biomaterials scientists is the ability to engineer the nanoscale surface features of biologically active materials. The goal of the current work is to demonstrate that polyelectrolyte complex nanoparticles (PCNs) in polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) can be combined to create surfaces with controlled nanoscale surface topography and nanoscale presentation of surface chemistry. The polysaccharides used in this work are the biomedically relevant chitosan, heparin, and hyaluronan. Nanostructured surface coatings were characterized on both modified gold substrates and tissue-culture polystyrene surfaces. PCNs were adsorbed to oppositely charged PEMs, and were also embedded within PEMs. The construction of the surface coatings was characterized by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). The surface morphology was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The chemistry of the coatings was confirmed by both X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and polarization modulation infra-red reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). Morphologically, we found that PCNs were colloidally stable and homogeneously distributed when adsorbed on or in the PEMs. Chemical analysis confirms that the PCNs adsorbed to PEMs significantly altered the surface chemistry, indicating significant surface coverage. Furthermore, the position of the PCNs normal to the surface can be adjusted by adding PEMs on top of adsorbed PCNs. Thus, PCNs can be used to introduce discrete nanoscale surface topographical features and varying surface chemistry into PEM surface coatings in a controlled way.