Total Internal Reflection Ellipsometry under SPR Conditions: In-Situ Monitoring of the Growth of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) Brushes

摘要

Total internal reflection ellipsometry (TIRE) under surface plasmon resonance (SPR) conditions represents a powerful characterization technique combining the conveniences of spectroscopic ellipsometry with SPR. Besides the very high sensitivity to small changes in the optical constants (up to 10 times more sensitive than conventional ellipsometry), the possibility to investigate media of different optical densities or even opaque media makes this analytical method very convenient for different sensing applications. This article presents an example of application of TIRE under SPR conditions for the continuously in-situ monitoring of the growth of covalently tethered poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) chains on a gold surface.