The morphology of micelles formed by two novel metallosurfactants has been studied by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small-angle-X-ray scattering (SAXS). The two surfactants both contain a dodecyl chain as the hydrophobic moiety, but differ in the structure of the head group. The surfactants are Cu(II) complexes of monopendant alcohol derivatives of a) the face-capping macrocycle 1,4,7-triazacyclanonane (tacn), and b) an analogue based upon the tetraazamacrocycle 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane. Here, neutron scattering has been used to study the overall size and shape of the surfactant micelles, in conjunction with X-ray scattering to locate the metal ions. For the 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-based surfactant, oblate micelles are observed, which are smaller to the prolate micelles formed by the 1,4,7-triazacyclononane analogue. The X-ray scattering analysis shows that the metal ions are distributed throughout the polar head-group region, rather than at a well-defined radius; this is in good agreement with the SANS-derived dimensions of the micelle. Indeed, the same model for micelle morphology can be used to fit both the SANS and SAXS data.

The adsorption of monodisperse block copolymers comprising poly(ethylene oxide)−poly(butylene oxide) onto polystyrene latex from aqueous solution has been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering and photon correlation spectroscopy with particular reference to the role of molecular architecture. It appears that chain architecture is (i) a weak factor in the adsorption behavior when the hydrophobic block is located in the center of the polymer, since the triblock E100B15E100 behaved very similarly to the cyclic c-E200B15, but (ii) a significant factor when the hydrophobic block is located at the end of the copolymer chain, as shown by the more dense and thicker layer formed by E200B15 compared to the triblock E100B15E100. The hydrodynamic thickness of the layer formed by the small diblock E100B15 was approximately half that exhibited by the larger diblock E200B15. Good agreement was observed between depletion and SANS-derived adsorbed amounts. Theoretical predictions and self-consistent mean-field calculations of the adsorption also show excellent qualitative agreement with experiment.

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