https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2011-11070-3
Internal organisation in polyelectrolytes/oppositely charged surfactants colloidal complexes anticipating precipitated nanostructures
1
Centre de Recherche sur la Matière Divisée, UMR 6619, Université d’Orléans-CNRS, 1b rue de la Férollerie, 45071, Orléans Cedex 2, France
2
Laboratoire de Physique des solides, Université Paris Sud, CNRS UMR 8502, Bâtiment 510, 91405, Orsay, France
* e-mail: samuel.guillot@cnrs-orleans.fr
Received:
28
March
2011
Revised:
6
June
2011
Accepted:
14
June
2011
Published online:
19
July
2011
In this paper, we relate the periodic nanostructures found in the colloidal complexes and the concentrated phases obtained with polyelectrolyte/surfactant aqueous solutions. We present small-angle X-ray scattering studies of the self-organisation of the anionic polymer carboxymethylcellulose with three cationic quaternary ammonium surfactants with different head and tail groups: hexadecyl trimethyl, hexadecyl ethyl dimethyl and didodecyl dimethyl ammonium bromides. We investigated the mesophases obtained above a precipitation threshold. The mixed solutions with the double-chained surfactant led to lamellar phases, in which the repeat distance only depends on the surfactant/carboxyl charge molar ratio. We show that an internal lamellar organisation already takes place in the dilute phase containing colloidal complexes found below the precipitation threshold.
© EDP Sciences, SIF, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2011