Template Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials via Layer-by-Layer Assembly

The layer-by-layer (LbL) templating technique has attracted significant interest as a simple, highly versatile approach that has been widely used to prepare nanostructured materials with tailored properties. The process involves the sequential deposition of species, such as polymers, nanoparticles, lipids, proteins, and dye molecules, onto various templates, which are subsequently removed to yield free-standing structures. Although fine control of the material properties (e.g., size, composition, thickness, permeability, function) is afforded by the type of species LbL-assembled, the morphology and composition of the templates also play a crucial role in determining the properties, and hence potential…