Polyelectrolyte-modified inverse microemulsions and their use as templates for the formation of magnetite nanoparticles

This paper is focused on the characterization of polyelectrolyte-modified inverse microemulsions and their use as templates for the synthesis of magnetite nanoparticles. It is shown that the cationic polyelectrolyte poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) of low molar mass can be incorporated into the individual inverse microemulsion droplets (L2 phase) consisting of heptanol, water, and an amphoteric surfactant with a sulfobetaine head group. Up to a polymer concentration of 20% by weight in the aqueous phase and for different molecular weights of the polymer, an isotropic phase still exists. At a PDADMAC concentration of 10% the area of the isotropic L2 phase is shifted in direction to the water corner. In the percolated area of the L2 phase, i.e., at higher water content, a temperature-dependent change in the conductivity can by observed, and bulk water can be detected by means of differential scanning calorimetry measurements. The unusual temperature-dependent behavior of the polymer-modified system, i.e., the conductivity decrease with increasing temperature, can be explained by temperature-sensitive polyelectrolyte-surfactant interactions, influencing the droplet-droplet interactions. These PDADMAC-modified microemulsions can be successfully used as a template for the formation of ultrafine magnetite particles, in contrast to the nonmodified microemulsion, where the process is misdirected due to the "disturbing" effect of the surfactants. However, in the presence of PDADMAC the surfactant head groups were masked, and therefore magnetite can be synthesized. During the process of magnetite formation the PDADMAC controls the particle growing and stabilizes spherical magnetite particles with a diameter of 17 nm, which can be redispersed without a change in size.     

Polyelectrolyte-modified microemulsions as new templates for the formation of nanoparticles

The paper is focused on the formation and redispersion of monodisperse BaSO₄ nanoparticles in polyelectrolyte-modified microemulsions. It is shown that a cationic polyelectrolyte of low molar mass, e.g. poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), can be incorporated into the individual inverse microemulsion droplets (L2 phase) consisting of heptanol, water, and an amphoteric surfactant with a sulfobetaine head group. These PDADMAC-filled microemulsion droplets can be successfully used as a template phase for the nanoparticle formation. The monodisperse BaSO₄ nanoparticles are produced by a simple mixing procedure and can be redispersed after solvent evaporation without a change in particle dimensions. Dynamic and electrophoretical light scattering in combination with sedimentation experiments in the analytical ultracentrifuge of the redispersed powder show polyelectrolyte-stabilized nanoparticles with diameters of about 6 nm. The polyelectrolyte shows a “size control effect”, which can be explained by the polyelectrolyte–surfactant interactions in relation to the polyelectrolyte–nanoparticle interactions during the particle growth, solvent evaporation and redispersion process. However, the approach used here opens a way to produce different types of polyelectrolyte-stabilized nanoparticles (including rare metals, semiconductors, carbonates or oxides) of very small dimensions.     

Recovery of nanoparticles produced in phosphatidylcholine-based template phases

This paper focuses on the characterization and use of polymer-modified phosphatidylcholine (PC)/sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-based inverse microemulsions as a template phase for BaSO4 nanoparticle formation. The area of the optically clear inverse microemulsion phase in the isooctane/hexanol/water/PC/SDS system is not significantly changed by adding polyelectrolytes, i.e., poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), or amphoteric copolymers of diallyldimethylammonium chloride and maleamid acid to the SDS-modified inverse microemulsion. Shear experiments show non-Newtonian flow behavior and oscillation experiments show a frequency-dependent viscosity increase (dilatant behavior) of the microemulsions. Small amounts of bulk water were identified by means of differential scanning calorimetry. One can conclude that the macromolecules are incorporated into the individual droplets, and polymer-filled microemulsions are formed. The polymer-filled microemulsions were used as a template phase for the synthesis of BaSO4 nanoparticles. After solvent evaporation the nanoparticles were redispersed in water and isooctane, respectively. The polymers incorporated into the microemulsion are involved in the redispersion process and influence the size and shape of the redispersed BaSO4 particles in a specific way. The crystallization process mainly depends on the type of solvent and the polymer component added. In the presence of the cationic polyelectrolyte PDADMAC the crystallization to larger cubic crystals is inhibited, and layers consisting of polymer-stabilized spherical nanoparticles of BaSO4 (6 nm in size) will be observed.     

Effect of a new hydrophobically modified polyampholyte on the formation of inverse microemulsions and the preparation of gold nanoparticles

A new regular polyampholyte, namely poly-(N,N-dially-N,N-dimethylammonium-alt-N-octyl-maleamic carboxylate), was synthesized by alternating free radical copolymerization. The influence of the added polymer on the range of the inverse micellar region (L(2) phase) of a SDS-based system was investigated. The phase behavior as well as conductivity measurements indicate that the polymer, which forms hydrophobic microdomains, is located more in the water core of the microemulsion droplets rather than at the interface of the surfactant film. The polyampholyte proved to be an efficient reducing and stabilizing agent for the formation of gold colloids. The process of nanoparticle formation was investigated in the absence of any other reducing agent, in water as well as in the microemulsion template phase. In both cases, nanoscalic gold particles can be synthesized, while the adsorption of the polymer on the particle surface prevents their aggregation due to electrosteric stabilization.     

Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) and 1-Octyl-2-pyrrolidinone Modified Ionic Microemulsions

The influence of the nonionic polymer poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) in comparison to the surfactant 1-octyl-2-pyrrolidinone (OP) on the phase behavior of the system SDS/pentanol/xylene/water was studied. In both modified systems a strong increase in the water solubilization capacity was found, accompanied by a change in the spontaneous curvature toward zero. In the polymer-modified system an isotropic phase channel is formed with increasing polymer content that connects the L1 and the L2 phase. The lamellar liquid crystalline phase is destabilized in both cases. In the L1 phase the adsorption of PVP at the surface of the microemulsion droplets and the formation of a cluster-like structure is proven by several methods like ¹³C NMR T₁ relaxation time measurments, zeta potential measurements, and rheology. In the L2 phase a modification of the interface of the inverse droplets is detected by a shift in the percolation boundary (conductivity) and ¹³C NMR T₁ relaxation measurements. The formation of a cluster-like structure can be assumed on the basis of our rheological measurements.     

无表面活性剂微乳液体系：N,N－二甲基甲酰胺/呋喃甲醛/水

通常微乳液一般由四个组分构成：水相、油相、表面活性剂和助表面活性剂。本文报道了一种不含表面活性剂的微乳液体系(简称SFME),由呋喃甲醛(油相),水和N,N－二甲基甲酰胺(DMF)三组分构成,不含传统的表面活性剂。对其相行为进行了研究,发现存在一个单相微乳液区和一个两相平衡区。采用电导率法和冷冻蚀刻电镜(FF-TEM)考察了单相区域中微乳液的微结构,结果表明可分为油包水(O/W)、双连续(BC)和水包油(W/O)三个区域。液滴直径介于40-70nm。     

Poly(ethyleneimine) as reducing and stabilizing agent for the formation of gold nanoparticles in w/o microemulsions

This paper is focused on the use of branched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) as reducing as well as stabilizing agent for the formation of gold nanoparticles in different media. The process of nanoparticle formation was investigated, in the absence of any other reducing agents, in microemulsion template phase in comparison to the nucleation process in aqueous polymer solution.

On the one hand, it was shown that the polyelectrolyte can be used for the controlled single-step synthesis and stabilization of gold nanoparticles via a nucleation reaction and particles with an average diameter of 7.1 nm can be produced.

On the other hand, it was demonstrated that the polymer can also act as reducing and stabilizing agent in much more complex systems, i.e. in water-in-oil (w/o) microemulsion droplets. The reverse microemulsion droplets of the quaternary system sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS)/toluene–pentanol (1:1)/water were successfully used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles. The polymer, incorporated in the droplets, exhibits reducing properties, adsorbs on the surface of the nanoparticles and prevents their aggregation. Consequently, nanoparticles of 8.6 nm can be redispersed after solvent evaporation without a change of their size.

Nevertheless, the polymer acts already as a “template” during the formation of the nanoparticles in water and in microemulsion, so that an additional template effect of the microemulsion is not observed.

The particle formation for both methods is checked by means of UV–vis spectroscopy and the particle size and size distribution are investigated via dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).     

Effect of ionic surfactants on the phase behavior and structure of sucrose ester/water/oil systems

The phase behavior and structure of sucrose ester/water/oil systems in the presence of long-chain cosurfactant (monolaurin) and small amounts of ionic surfactants was investigated by phase study and small angle X-ray scattering. In a water/sucrose ester/monolaurin/decane system at 27 degrees C, instead of a three-phase microemulsion, lamellar liquid crystals are formed in the dilute region. Unlike other systems in the presence of alcohol as cosurfactant, the HLB composition does not change with dilution, since monolaurin adsorbs almost completely in the interface. The addition of small amounts of ionic surfactant, regardless of the counterion, increases the solubilization of water in W/O microemulsions. The solubilization on oil in O/W microemulsions is not much affected, but structuring is induced and a viscous isotropic phase is formed. At high ionic surfactant concentrations, the single-phase microemulsion disappears and liquid crystals are favored.     

Phase behavior and nano-emulsion formation by the phase inversion temperature method

Formation of oil-in-water nano-emulsions has been studied in the water/C12E4/isohexadecane system by the phase inversion temperature emulsification method. Emulsification started at the corresponding hydrophilic-lipophilic balance temperature, and then the samples were quickly cooled to 25 degrees C. The influence of phase behavior on nano-emulsion droplet size and stability has been studied. Droplet size was determined by dynamic light scattering, and nano-emulsion stability was assessed, measuring the variation of droplet size as a function of time. The results obtained showed that the smallest droplet sizes were produced in samples where the emulsification started in a bicontinuous microemulsion (D) phase region or in a two-phase region consisting of a microemulsion (D) and a liquid crystalline phase (L(alpha)). Although the breakdown process of nano-emulsions could be attributed to the oil transference from the smaller to the bigger droplets, the increase in instability found with the increase in surfactant concentration may be related to the higher surfactant excess, favoring the oil micellar transport between the emulsion droplets.     

Pretransitional behavior of a water in liquid crystal microemulsion close to the demixing transition: evidence for intermicellar attraction mediated by paranematic fluctuations

We present a study of a water-in-oil microemulsion in which surfactant coated water nanodroplets are dispersed in the isotropic phase of the thermotropic liquid-crystal penthyl-cyanobiphenyl (5CB). As the temperature is lowered below the isotropic to nematic phase transition of pure 5CB, the system displays a demixing transition leading to a coexistence of a droplet-rich isotropic phase with a droplet-poor nematic. The transition is anticipated, in the high T side, by increasing pretransitional fluctuations in 5CB molecular orientation and in the nanodroplet concentration. The observed phase behavior supports the notion that the nanosized droplets, while large enough for their statistical behavior to be probed via light scattering, are also small enough to act as impurities, disturbing the local orientational ordering of the liquid crystal and thus experiencing pretransitional attractive interaction mediated by paranematic fluctuations. The pretransitional behavior, together with the topology of the phase diagram, can be understood on the basis of a diluted Lebwohl-Lasher model which describes the nanodroplets simply as holes in the liquid crystal.     

Surfactant-free oil/water and bicontinuous microemulsion composed of benzene, ethanol and water

<正>Generally,a microemulsion consists of oil,water,surfactant and sometimes cosurfactant.Herein,we report a novel suffactant-free microemulsion(denoted as SFME) composed of benzene,water and ethanol without the amphiphilic molecular structure of traditional surfactant.The phase behavior of the ternary system was investigated,finding that there were a single-phase region and a two-phase region in ternary phase diagram.The electrical conductivity measurement was employed to investigate the microregion of the single-phase region,and a bicontinuous microregion and a benzene-in-water(O/W) microemulsion microregion were identified,which was confirmed by freeze-fracture transmission electron microscopy(FF-TEM) observations.The sizes of the microemulsion droplets are in the range of 20-50 nm.     

Phase behaviour and physicochemical properties of microemulsions with a non-ionic surfactant (IGEPAL)

The non-ionic surfactant pentaethylenglycol-4-octylphenyl ether (igepal CA-520) represents a good industrial alternative to the long-tail members of the C_iE_j family. In this paper, the phase behaviour of the microemulsion system igepal CA-520/n-decane/brine is studied in detail. An isotropic phase was found, as well as liquid crystalline and cream-like structures, depending on composition and temperature. Such structures can either form single-phase homogeneous mixtures, or coexist with other structures when phase separation takes place. Below surfactant concentration of about 20%, more complicated phase equilibria develop as temperature changes. The presence of different additives shifts the temperature ranges where the different phases exist, while keeping the general shape of the phase diagram, which agrees with the general rules for non-ionic surfactants. Complementary rheology experiments reveal a change from non-Newtonian to Newtonian behaviour during the phase transition from a lamellar phase to the isotropic microemulsion. A structure of water droplets associated in clusters can be proposed from SANS and electrical conductivity.     

Polyampholyte-modified ionic microemulsions

This paper is focused on the influence of added polyampholyte, namely poly(N,N′-diallyl-N,N′-dimethyl-alt-maleamic carboxylate) on the inverse micellar phase range of the pseudo-ternary system consisting of toluene–pentanol (1:1)/SDS/water in dependence on the pH value and the temperature. Investigations on phase behavior have revealed that a greater extension in direction to the water-rich corner can be found at pH 4 compared to pH 9. In order to understand changes in the microstructure, polymer–surfactant interactions in dependence on pH have been examined by means of diffusion-ordered spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, as well as conductivity measurements. The results have proven that the present microemulsion consists of water-in-oil droplets, with the polyampholyte located more in the inner core of the water droplets at pH 9 rather than at the interphase of the surfactant film at pH 4.     

Loose complexation of weakly charged microemulsion droplets and a polyelectrolyte

The effect of polyelectrolyte addition on the properties of an oil-in-water (O/W) microemulsion of weakly charged spherical micelles is studied. The 81 A radius O/W droplets in this system can be charged by the partial substitution of the nonionic surfactant by a cationic surfactant. The effect of the addition of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), which is a charged pH-dependent polyelectrolyte, on the interactions between charged or noncharged droplets has been investigated using SANS. We have characterized the phase behavior of this pH-smart system as a function of the microemulsion and the polyelectrolyte concentration and the number of charges per droplet at three pH values: pH = 2, 4.5, and 12. In particular, an associative phase separation due to the bridging of the droplets by the neutral PAA chains through H-bonds is observed with extremely low PAA addition at low pH. At the opposite, an addition of PAA at pH = 4.5 generates a strong repulsive contribution between neutral droplets. Electrostatic bonds between charged droplets and PAA, controlled by the number of charges per droplet, are responsible for a pH drift and then for an associative phase separation similar to that observed at low pH. Finally, at high pH, the creation of electrostatic bonds between fully charged PAA and charged droplets liberates sufficiently counterions in solution at high droplet charge density to screen the electrostatic interactions and to allow an associative phase separation.     

Phase diagrams and chemical physical properties of dodecyl sulfobetain/alcohol/oil/water microemulsion system

The HLB plane equation was deduced according to the mass balance relation in microemulsion systems for the first time. The δ-γ fishlike phase diagram was plotted and the composition of the interfacial layer was calculated for dodecyl sulfobetain/alcohol/oil/water microemulsion system. The solubilities of dodecyl sulfobetian and alcohol and the solubilization capacity for the middle-phase microemulsion were examined. The effects of different alcohols, oils, and aqueous solution composition (NaCl content and pH values) on the phase behavior and the related parameters were also investigated. The phase behavior for dodecyl sulfobetain-based microemulsion system was compared with corresponding phase behavior for lauric-N-methylglucamide-based and sodium dodecyl sulfatebased systems. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Phase behavior of the orange essential oil/sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate/water system

The ternary phase diagram for the orange essential oil (OEO)/sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT)/water system was constructed at 25 °C. It indicates a large single phase region, comprising an isotropic water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion (ME) phase (L₂), a liquid crystal (LC) (lamellar or hexagonal) and a large unstable emulsion phase that separates in two phases of normal and reverse micelles (L₁ and L₂). In this communication the properties of the ME are investigated by viscosity, electric conductivity and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) indicating that the isotropic ME phase exhibits different behaviors depending on composition. At low water content low viscous “dry” surfactant structures are formed, whereas at higher water content higher viscous water droplets are formed. The experimental data allow the determination of the transition from “dry” to the water droplet structures within the L₂ phase. SAXS analyses have also been performed for selected LC samples.     

Neutron scattering study of the structural change induced by photopolymerization of AOT/D2O/dodecyl acrylate inverse microemulsions

Small-angle and ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (SANS/USANS) measurements were used to determine the structural changes induced by photopolymerization of AOT/D2O/(dodecyl acrylate) inverse microemulsion systems. Scattering profiles were collected for the initial microemulsions and the films resulting from photopolymerization of the oil phase. The SANS data for the microemulsions were modeled as spherical, core-shell droplets. Upon polymerization, the clear mircoemulsions formed opaque films. From the SANS/USANS data of the films, it was apparent that this morphology was not preserved upon polymerization; however, it was clearly observed that the formulation of the microemulsion had a large impact on the structure within the films. The Guinier region in the USANS data (2.5 x 10(-5) A(-1) < or = Q < or = 5.3 x 10(-3) A(-1)) from the films indicates that very large structures are formed. Simultaneously, a well-defined peak (0.15 A(-1) < or = Q < or = 0.25 A(-1)) in the SANS data indicates that there are also much smaller structures formed. It is proposed that the low-Q scattering arises from aggregation of the nanometer-size water droplets in the microemulsion to form droplets large enough to scatter visible light, while the peak in the high-Q region results from bilayered structures formed by the surfactant.     

Water/i‐Propanol/n‐Butanol Microemulsions

Water and n‐butanol are immiscible. In this paper, i‐propanol was found to be surface active for both water and n‐butanol using surface tension measurement at 25.0±0.1°C, especially the system with i‐propanol in water displays a pronounced decrease in surface tension with a distinct inflexion point indicating aggregation. Investigation on phase behavior of water/i‐propanol/n‐butanol ternary system at 25.0±0.1°C showed i‐propanol could promote remarkably the miscibility of water and n‐butanol. Cyclic voltammetric technique was employed to locate the micro‐regions in single region, indicating the existence of three micro‐regions of water/n‐butanol, n‐butanol/water and bicontinuous region. Thus, a novel water/i‐propanol/n‐butanol microemulsion without general surfactant is expected to form. Dynamic light scattering also demonstrated the size (hydrodynamic diameter) distribution of the microemulsion, verifying further the formation of the microemulsion droplets.     

Polymer-modified w/o microemulsions - with tunable droplet-droplet interactions

Water soluble polymers can be incorporated into reverse microemulsion droplets without leaving the isotropic phase region. When the polymer is attached to the surfactant film the bending elasticity is changed, and droplet-droplet interactions are influenced. Different methods are available for studying the droplet-droplet interactions in more detail, e.g. SANS, SAXS and DLS. Conductometric measurements are very useful for detecting exchange processes between the droplets. In presence of polyampholytes a pH dependent tuning of the membrane properties becomes possible, experimentally detectable by conductometry.