Mesomorphous Structure and Macroscopic Patterns Formed by Polymer and Surfactant from Organic Solutions

Abstract

Ordered mesomorphous structures were obtained from the ternary system of organic solvent, polymer, and surfactant, and this microscopic ordering could lead to unique water-wave-like macroscopic patterns in solid polymer−surfactant film. The mesomorphous structures and macroscopic patterns were obtained by dissolving a nonpolyelectrolyte polymer and cationic surfactant in organic solvents and casting the solutions on glass substrates. The patterns thus obtained are composed of concentric rings, and these concentric rings, with their diameters up to centimeters, alternatively consist of macroscopic convex ridges and concave valleys, with the former being amphormous phase and the latter being ordered mesomorphous one. This macroscopic patterning in a solid polymer−surfactant system could offer a new way for fabricating ordered supramolecular structure in macroscopic dimensions.