No abstract

Two polymerizable surfactants, cationic methacryloyloxyundecyl trimethylammonium bromide and anionic sodium 4-(ω-methacryloyloxyundecyl)oxy benzene sulfonate, have been synthesized. The microstructures formed by mixtures of these surfactants in aqueous solution include stable vesicles, the structure of which can be fixed by polymerization. Both native and polymerized vesicles are characterized using quasi-elastic and static light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy. Polymerization captures the bilayer structure without creating appreciable intervesicle cross-linking.

Addition of the hydrotropic salt sodium tosylate (TSNa) to solutions of a polymerizable cationic surfactant, methacryloyloxyundecyltrimethylammonium bromide (MUTB), leads to a transition from spherical to wormlike micelles about 40 nm in length. The wormlike micelles were successfully polymerized to yield stable, single-phase solutions of polymerized micelles. The polymerized wormlike micelles were several hundred nanometers long, although their cross-sectional radius remained unchanged (∼2 nm). The spherical to wormlike micelle transition, and the wormlike micelles polymerized at different molar ratios of TSNa to MUTB, were characterized using quasi-elastic and static light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, NMR, and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy.