Chemical liquid deposition of aromatic poly(azomethine)s by spontaneous on-site polycondensation in aqueous solutionElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Details of the experimental procedure, photographs of the polymer films, the film thicknesses obtained by ellipsometry, cross-section of AFM images, and detailed spectroscopic data. See DOI: 10.1039/c2cc16975d

Colored Schiff-base -conjugated polymer thin films from different combinations of aromatic amines and aldehydes have been prepared. The polymer films spontaneously form under ambient conditions by simple immersion of graphite substrates in an aqueous solution containing the monomer units. Chemical liquid deposition is achieved by delicate control of solution pH, which allows surface selective polymerization and deposition but inhibits reaction in the aqueous phase. Various poly(azomethine) ultrathin films without ionic or bulky substituent were deposited spontaneously from aqueous solutions of simple aromatic monomers by chemical liquid deposition.