Lyotropic liquid crystalline epoxide-amine addition polymers

A new type of amphiphilic polymer is described. It is built up from a hydrophilic main chain and hydrophobic n-alkyl chains directly attached to the monomer units. With this chemical constitution the formation of micelles and micellar aggregates is expected, where the hydrophobic side chains are organised on a convex surface. The polymers are synthesised by the polyaddition of tetra-, hexa- and octaethylene diglycidyl ether and n-dodecyl- and n-hexadecyl amine. Polymers are synthesised by systematic variation of the hydrophilic/lipophilic balance (HLB). Although the HLB of the polymers is varied, only a uniform polymorphism is observed in aqueous solutions. A broad miscibility gap and a hexagonal phase at polymer concentrations of 70–80 wt.% polymer exist. Due to the new head-type constitution of the polymers, the hexagonal phase is expected to be of the inverse type.