Self-Assembled Poly(4-vinylpyridine)−Surfactant Systems Using Alkyl and Alkoxy Phenylazophenols

Abstract

Para-substituted alkyl and alkoxy phenylazophenols (PAP’s) have been synthesized and used as hydrogen-bonded side chains for poly(4-vinylpyridine)-based comb-shaped supramolecules akin to the well-studied poly(4-vinylpyridine)/pentadecylphenol systems. In this paper we report the self-assembly of these new materials as investigated by DSC and simultaneous SAXS/WAXS. The systems exhibit smectic ordering with a periodicity in the range of 3.0−4.2 nm. The periodicity length scale, the order−disorder transition temperature (TODT), and the glass transition temperature Tg of the self-assembled systems all increase with increasing alkyl chain length. The correlation between TODT and Tg observed is argued to be the consequence of the increasing segregation in the self-assembled systems with increasing alkyl tail length of the amphiphiles.