Phase equilibria and phase structure in the ternary systems sodium or potassium octanoate-octanoic acid-water

Two isotropic solution regions and several liquid crystalline regions occur in the ternary system sodium octanoate-octanoic acid-water at 20°C The solution regions are an aqueous solution and a solution of sodium octanoate and water in liquid octanoic acid. A region displaying one-dimensional lamellar structure is located in the center of the phase diagram. A region along the soap-water axis has a two-dimensional normal hexagonal structure. Another region at high octanoic acid content has a reversed hexagonal structure. Along the soap-fatty acid axis the acid-soap 2NaC₈:1HC₈ in crystalline state is found.X-ray and density findings for the various phases are presented, and structural parameters for the different liquid crystalline phases are estimated.The phase behavior of the potassium soap system is similar to that of the sodium system.The isothermal ternary phase diagram of a soap, the corresponding fatty acid and water provides information about the ionization state of the system, from the unionized fatty acid to the fully ionized soap.     

Lyotropic and interfacial behaviour of an anionic gemini surfactant

The sodium salt of N,N'-hexane-bis (1-dodecen-1-ylsuccinamic acid) is an anionic dimeric (gemini) surfactant. A flooding penetration scan of this surfactant in water demonstrates a sequence of lyotropic phases at room temperature (20 degrees C). Preparation of surfactant-water mixtures has resulted in a phase diagram which shows that the same sequence of phases exists up to 100 degrees C. These phases are tentatively assigned to the sequence: micellar to normal hexagonal (H1) to cubic (V1) to lamellar (Lalpha). The interfacial tension at the n-heptane/water interface has been determined in the presence of this surfactant. The surfactant head group area at the interface is large (2.8+/-0.3 nm2 at 298 K) and the interfacial tension above the critical micelle concentration is low (7 mN m(-1)), but considerably higher than the ultra-low values that have been reported for cationic dimeric surfactants at various hydrocarbon-water interfaces.     

Polymerisation of liquid crystalline phases in binary surfactant/water systems

The binary phase behaviour of two potentially polymerisable quaternary ammonium surfactants in water has been investigated. Allyldodecyldimethylammonium bromide (ADAB) a single-chain surfactant displays a conventional phase progression upon increasing concentration. Whereas the doublechain analogue allyldidodecylmethylammonium bromide (ADDAB) forms two lamellar liquid crystalline phases built from surfactant bilayers, which transform via a first order phase transition. The formation of two distinct lamellar phases and their coexistence has been evidenced by optical microscopy, small-angle x-ray scattering and D₂O deuterium quadrupolar nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The lamellar phase formed at higher surfactant compositions is a normal lamellar phase (typeL ) consisting of bilayers which are on average parallel and flat. The lower compositional lamellar phase (typeL ) in contrast may not be comprised of planar bilayers but rather aggregates having a high degree of curvature in comparison to those of theL phase. The presence of the allyl polymerisable moiety in the head group position of these surfactants has the effect of reducing the rigidity of the surfactant and increasing its solubility in comparison to nonpolymerisable analogues. Polymerisation of the surfactants was attempted by using thermal and photochemical initiation in isotropic and self-assembled systems. Polymerisation occurred to approximately 30% for DADB but did not occur for ADDAB. Where polymerisation did occur the polymer was incorporated into the monomer matrix by interweaving between the surfactant aggregates. The polymers had a molecular wieght not greater than 8000 Daltons, independent of the monomer concentration of the original solution and type of polymerisation.     

Polymerisation of liquid crystalline phases in binary surfactant/water systems

The phase behaviour and polymerisation of a quaternary ammonium surfactant containing an ethylmethacrylate polymerisable moiety within the head group region has been investigated. The addition of this large flexible hydrophilic moiety alters significantly the inherent surface activity of the surfactant and the surfactant may be compared with the class of non-ionic polyethyleneoxide surfactants. Polymerisation of both self-assembled and non self-assembled states went to near completion with the resulting polymer being completely insoluble in water.     

An NMR study of translational diffusion and structural anisotropy in magnetically alignable nonionic surfactant mesophases

The diffusion of both water and surfactant components in aqueous solutions of the nonionic surfactant "C12E6"--which includes hexagonal, cubic, lamellar, and micellar mesophases--has been studied by pulsed-field-gradient NMR. Diffusion coefficients were measured in unaligned samples in all of these phases. They were also obtained in the hexagonal and lamellar phases in oriented monodomain samples that were aligned by slow cooling from the micellar phase in an 11.7 T magnet. Measured water and soap diffusion coefficients in the NMR-isotropic cubic and (high-water-content) micellar phases as well as diffusion anisotropy measurements in the magnetically aligned hexagonal phase were quantitatively consistent with the constituent structures of these phases being identical surfactant cylinders, with only the fraction of surface-associated water varying with the water-soap molar ratio. The values of the water and soap diffusion coefficients in the oriented lamellar phase suggest an increase in defects and obstructions to soap diffusion as a function of increasing water content, while those in the low-water-content micellar phase rule out the presence of inverse micelles.     

Computational study of the structure and behavior of aqueous mixed system sodium unsaturated carboxylate-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide

The mixed surfactant system sodium 10-undecenoate (SUD)-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) was studied by computational simulation to determine the composition and structure of the mixed microstructures. Results were contrasted with experimental data obtained from literature and our own laboratory. The modelization predicts spherical or cylindrical micelles with a preferential composition of SUD-DTAB of about 1:2, while the system predicts a lamellar structure with a proportion of 1:1 when SUD is replaced by the saturated soap sodium undecanoate. The model also predicts the deep inclusion of bromide ions in the micelle Stern layer. All predictions were in agreement with previous experimental results.     

Polymerisation of liquid crystalline phases in binary surfactant/water systems

The self-assembly behaviour of the polymerisable surfactant -undecenyltrimethylammonium bromide (-UTAB) both before and after polymerisation has been investigated. In addition polymerisation of the liquid crystalline phases formed by this surfactant in aqueous solution has been studied. Introduction of the carbon-carbon double bond at the end of the hydrocarbon chain increases the rigidity of the paraffinic chains such that the Krafft curve is shifted to higher temperatures compared with that of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide, a nonpolymerisable analogue. Both the polymerised and non-polymerised forms have been observed to have the same phase progression, with the polymer being more soluble in water such that the liquid crystalline phases formed at high surfactant concentration are accessible at room temperature. Polymerisation of the liquid crystalline phases of -UTAB indicate that polymerisation proceeds to approximately 40% (in comparison) with 80% in a non-aggregated form) and that the original monomeric matrix is undisturbed upon partial polymerisation.     

Dissipative particle dynamics simulation of phase behavior of aerosol OT/water system

The phase behaviors of the binary mixture of an anionic surfactant aerosol OT (AOT) and water are investigated on a mesoscopic level using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) computer simulations. With a simple surfactant model, various aggregation structures of AOT in water including the lamellar, viscous isotropic, and reverse hexagonal phases are obtained, which agree well with the experimental phase diagram. Special attention is given on the unusual lamellar regions. Water diffusivity shows much useful information to understand how the phase behaviors varied with concentration and temperature. It is proposed that the anomalous lamellar phenomena at intermediate AOT concentration (about 40%) are due to the formation of a defective structure, pseudoreversed hexagonal phase, which evidently decreases the water diffusivity. After increasing temperature above 328 K, the pseudoreversed hexagonal structure will be partly transformed to a normal lamellar phase structure and the system lamellar ordering is therefore enhanced.     

Phase behavior of sucrose monoalkanoate in a water-long-chain alcohol system

Phase diagram of a water/sucrose monododecanoate (SE)/hexanol system was determined at 30°C. Aqueous micellar, reverse micellar, normal hexagonal liquid crystalline, and lamellar liquid crystalline phases appear in the phase diagram. The change in interlayer spacing and interfacial section area of surfactant in the liquid crystalline phases was investigated by small-angle x-ray scattering. Upon addition of water, the section area and the radius of cylindrical aggregates are almost constant in a hexagonal liquid crystal, whereas the distance between each cylinder is separated on the water-SE axis. The interlayer spacing slightly decreases or is almost unchanged on the surfactant-hexanol axis, because alcohol molecules penetrate into the palisade of bilayers. Although the average section area decreases with increasing alcohol content, each section area of SE and alcohol molecules are kept constant. Since the interfacial section area of alcohol is less than the section area of hydrocarbon chain, the phase transition from lamellar liquid crystal to reverse micelle occurs in an alcohol-rich region.     

Self-assembly in linker-modified microemulsions

Linker molecules are added to microemulsion systems to enhance the interaction between the surfactant and oil (lipophilic linkers) or water (hydrophilic linkers) phases. Previous results suggest that when lipophilic and hydrophilic linkers are combined they behave as a self-assembled surfactant at the oil/water interface. In this work we investigate this self-assembly phenomenon as a function of surfactant, linker and electrolyte concentration. We find that middle phase microemulsion appears at a specific concentration higher than the critical micelle concentration (CMC), which we denote as the critical middle phase microemulsion concentration (CmicroC). When the lipophilic linker dodecanol is added in equimolar ratio to the hydrophilic linker sodium mono- and dimethyl naphthalene sulfonate (SMDNS), the middle phase microemulsion did not appear until the surfactant sodium dihexyl sulfosuccinate (SDHS) concentration was larger than the CmicroC of the SDHS-alone system. Dodecanol is shown to segregate near the surfactant tails following a Langmuir-type adsorption process. This segregation is not affected by the electrolyte concentration but is significantly reduced when the surfactant (SDHS) concentration approaches the CmicroC. The data suggest that the self-assembly between hydrophilic and lipophilic linkers to form middle phase microemulsions is only possible if a minimum amount of surfactant is present.     

Use of the ternary phase diagram of a mixed cationic/glucopyranoside surfactant system to predict mesostructured silica synthesis

Mixed surfactant systems have the potential to impart controlled combinations of functionality and pore structure to mesoporous metal oxides. Here, we combine a functional glucopyranoside surfactant with a cationic surfactant that readily forms liquid crystalline mesophases. The phase diagram for the ternary system CTAB/H(2)O/n-octyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (C(8)G(1)) at 50 degrees C is measured using polarized optical microscopy. At this temperature, the binary C(8)G(1)/H(2)O system forms disordered micellar solutions up to 72 wt% C(8)G(1), and there is no hexagonal phase. With the addition of CTAB, we identify a large area of hexagonal phase, as well as cubic, lamellar and solid surfactant phases. The ternary phase diagram is used to predict the synthesis of thick mesoporous silica films via a direct liquid crystal templating technique. By changing the relative concentration of mixed surfactants as well as inorganic precursor species, surfactant/silica mesostructured thick films can be synthesized with variable glucopyranoside content, and with 2D hexagonal, cubic and lamellar structures. The domains over which different mesophases are prepared correspond well with those of the ternary phase diagram if the hydrophilic inorganic species is assumed to act as an equivalent volume of water.     

表面活性剂在溶液中聚集形态的动力学模拟

用耗散颗粒动力学模拟方法(DPD)展示了表面活性剂分子在溶液中的聚集形态，用扩散程度表征了表面活性剂溶液中的自组装情况。结果发现：这种分子动力学模拟方法能够直观地得到表面活性剂的聚集形态；随着表面活性剂的浓度增加，聚集形态依次从球状胶束、棒状或虫状胶束，六角状相，向层状相变化。     

Investigation of SDS, DTAB and CTAB micelle microviscosities by electron spin resonance

Electron spin resonance spectroscopy (ESR) of the nitroxide labelled fatty acid probes (5-, 16-doxyl stearic acid) was used to monitor the micelle microviscosity of three surfactants at various concentrations in aqueous solution: sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). At low surfactant concentration, there is no micelle, the ESR probe is dissolved in water/surfactant homogeneous phase and gives his microviscosity. At higher surfactant concentration, an abrupt increase in microviscosity indicates the apparition of micelles and, the solubilization of the probes in micelles. The microviscosity of the three surfactants, in a large surfactant range, was obtained as well as the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The microviscosity increased slightly with the increase in surfactant concentration. Phosphate buffer lowered the CMC value and generally increased the microviscosity.     

Phase polymorphism by mixing of poly(oxyethylene)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) copolymer and nonionic surfactant in water

The phase behavior of the water/poly(oxyethylene)-poly(dimethylsiloxane) copolymer (Si25C3EO51.6)/pentaoxyethylene dodecyl ether (C12EO5) ternary system has been studied. Both the silicone copolymer and the surfactant have equal volumes of hydrophilic and lipophilic parts; i.e., these are balanced amphiphiles. Although only a lamellar phase is observed in water-Si25C3EO51.6 and water-C12EO5 binary systems, a variety of liquid crystalline phases, including normal micellar cubic (I1), hexagonal (H1), bicontinuous cubic (V1), lamellar (L(alpha)), reverse bicontinuous cubic (V2), and reverse hexagonal (H2), are observed in the copolymer-rich region of the ternary phase diagram. The small C12EO5 molecules dissolve at the hydrophobic interface in the thick bilayer of the Si25C3EO51.6 L(alpha) phase occupying a large area of the total interface of the aggregates and modulate the curvature of the aggregates. Hence a variety of self-assembled structures are observed. In contrast, Si25C3EO51.6 is not dissolved in the thin bilayer of the C12EO5 lamellar phase (L'(alpha)). Hence, the C12EO5 L'(alpha) phase coexists with copolymer-rich L(alpha) and H2 phases. Consequently, small surfactant molecules are dissolved in a large silicone copolymer aggregate to induce a change in layer curvature, but a large copolymer molecule is hard to incorporate with surfactant aggregates.     

Phase behaviour of lithium and sodium salts of phenylstearic acid

Phenylstearic acid, prepared from oleic acid and benzene, using the Friedel-Crafts reaction, has been confirmed to be a reproducible mixture of twelve positional isomers. Lithium and sodium salts of this acid are semi-crystalline solids which behave in many ways like pure single substances. The thermotropic polymorphism of these soaps has been studied using DSC and polarizing microscopy (as well as X-ray diffraction and ⁷Li NMR spectroscopy for the former soap). Both soaps exhibit characteristic stepwise melting behaviour and form stable reversed hexagonal mesophases at elevated temperatures, in contrast to the lamellar phases exhibited by the unsubstituted soaps.     

Interactions of surfactants and fatty acids with lipids

The recent studies on the interaction of surfactants and fatty acids with lipids are inspired by the want of knowledge from several research fields of highest activity: identification of membrane rafts; membrane protein crystallization; formation of non-lamellar phases in membranes; membrane fusion. Detailed phase diagrams for lipid–surfactant and lipid–fatty acid mixtures, obtained in the last few years, reveal complicated mesomorphic and polymorphic behavior, including miscibility gaps and compound formation. Surfactant-induced non-lamellar to lamellar transitions in lipids and specific temperature-driven bilayer–micelle transitions represent extensions of the general three-stage model of membrane solubilization. Further research is required to construct phase diagrams as to delineate the principles of lipid–surfactant and lipid–fatty acid interactions for the variety of membrane lipid classes.     

Phase behavior of a DNA-based surfactant mixed with water and n-alcohols

The self-assembly behavior of a cationic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium, DTA) with DNA as counterion in mixtures of water and n-alcohols (decanol, octanol, hexanol, butanol, and ethanol) was investigated. The phase diagrams were established and the different regions of the phase diagram characterized with respect to microstructure by (2)H NMR, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and other techniques. The DNA-DTA surfactant is soluble in all of the studied alcohols, showing increased solubility from decanol down to ethanol. All of the phase diagrams are analogous with respect to the occurrence of liquid crystalline (LC) regions, but the area of the LC region increases as one goes from decanol to ethanol. In all phase diagrams, hexagonal phases (of the reversed type) for the alcohol-rich side and lamellar phases for the other side were detected. For balanced proportions of the components, there is a coexistence of the lamellar and the hexagonal phase, here detected with a double quadrupole splitting in the (2)H NMR spectra. The correctness of the phase diagrams is confirmed by the fact that along the tie-lines the splitting magnitude remains nearly constant. All of the alcohols except for ethanol act as cosurfactants penetrating the DNA-DTA film. Adding salt to the ternary mixtures causes an increase in the unit cell dimension of the lamellar and the hexagonal phases. The phase diagram becomes more complicated when butanol is used for the alcohol phase. Here, there is the occurrence of a new isotropic phase with some properties analogous to those of the disordered sponge (L3) phase obtained for simple surfactant systems.     

Structural fluctuations in the lamellar phase of sodium decyl sulphate/decanol/water

We present a neutron scattering study of oriented samples for the lamellar phase of the ternary mixture sodium decyl sulphate/1-decanol/water. Diffuse scatterings are observed, around the Bragg reflections and away from them, which show that the structure of this lamellar phase deviates from the periodic stacking of infinite homogeneous lamellae of water and amphiphilic molecules usually proposed for the structure of lamellar phases. The nature of this deviation evolves with the soap/decanol ratio, according to the location of the sample in the lamellar domain of the phase diagram. In the middle of the domain the deviation relates to the organization of the lamellar stacking, without apparent modification of the structure of the lamellae of amphiphiles. Moving away from the middle, for higher soap/decanol ratios, the structure of the lamellae appears to be randomly perturbed, eventually by the presence of a few water regions piercing them. When the boundary of the lamellar domain is approached, for still higher soap/decanol ratios, the density of these peturbations increases and they start to be correlated over limited distances, within the lamellae and from lamella to lamella. The local symmetry of these short range correlations is such that these perturbations may be seen as structural fluctuations which may be seen as precursors of the transformation of the lamellar phase into a neighbouring phase on the phase diagram. This phenomenon is discussed briefly in relation to the structural fluctuations of the relative concentrations of sodium decyl sulphate and decanol within the aggregates.     

Influence of glycerol on the formation of lyotropic mesophases —microscopic texture observations for determining preliminary phase diagrams of binary K-soap/glycerol systems

Analogously to aqueous K-soap/water systems already examined, the glycerol-containing systems KC _n /G (KC _n ;n=12, 14, 16, 18, 22; G=glycerol) are also able to build up hexagonal, lamellar, optically isotropic, gel-like and crystalline phases. These preliminary phases have been identified by texture observations of contact samples and singular concentrations with a polarizing microscope. The appertaining phase regions have been plotted in the binary phase diagrams.Correspondences and differences between these systems have been elucidared by drawing a comparison. Mosaic texture and oily streaks are typical of the lamellar phase. Spherulites are mainly found in the heterogeneous two-phase region lamellar/isotropic. The textures of the hexagonal phase are of fan-like morphology. The appearance of the gel phase texture resembles globular or curd-like structures.The influences exerted by the increasing chain lengths of the K-soaps (KC _n ,n=12–22) on the phase regions in the binary systems (KC _n /G) can be described as follows. The concentrations required for forming the hexagonal and the lamellar phase respectively are shifted toward lower K-soap concentrations. The concentration range in which the hexagonal phase is stable is diminished. The temperature range in which the hexagonal phase is stable becomes larger. The upper temperature limit of the lamellar phase region is lowered.Binary aqueous and glycerol-containing K-soap systems have the following common features: The hexagonal phase is built up at low soap concentrations. The lamellar phase is formed at high soap concentrations. The lamellar phase is formed at high soap concentrations. An optically isotropic region is inserved between the lamellar and the hexagonal phase in aqueous and glycerol-containing systems of the types KC₁₄, KC₁₆ and KC₁₈. The temperature of the transition hexagonalisotropic phase (HS) runs through a maximum value. On increasing the chain length the formation of the hexagonal phase is shifted in the direction of lower soap concentrations.Aqueous and glycerol-containing K-soap mixtures differ in the following essential points: The lyotropic mesophases (H, L, I) of aqueous systems are formed at considerably lower soap concentrations than the corresponding phases of glycerol-containing systems. The lamellar phases of aqueous systems reach the regions of very low soap concentrations. The lyotropic mesophases of aqueous systems are built up at temperatures lower than the corresponding ones of glycerol-containing mixtures. In aqueous systems the concentration range of the lamellar phase increases with increasing chain length, in contrast to glycerol-containing systems where it is diminished.     

Structural phase transformations induced by the addition of decanol to the hexagonal phase of the binary sodium decyl sulphate/water system

The hexagonal phase of the sodium decyl sulphate/water system transforms into a lamellar phase on the introduction of decanol. This transformation occurs in several steps. We present here a study of the sequence of the corresponding phase transformations. The various phases are identified according to their textures by optical microscopy. It can be seen that, as the decanol/soap ratio increases the two dimensional hexagonal phase is followed by two dimensional rectangular phases before the one dimensional lamellar phase is reached. The symmetries of the structures of the phases and the shapes of their aggregates of amphiphilic molecules were determined by small angle X-ray and neutron scattering studies (SAXS and SANS). Two rectangular phases with cmm and pgg symmetries show up successively between the hexagonal and lamellar phases. The shape of the aggregates evolves along the sequence in an unexpected manner. In the two dimensional hexagonal phase, the aggregates are cylinders with an isotropic circular section at low decanol/soap ratio, which become anisotropic as this ratio increases, i.e. the aggregates become ribbon-like aggregates. The aggregates keep this shape in the rectangular phases, with changes of size, and also, most probably, in the lamellar phase near the two dimensional rectangular phases where it can be seen that the lamellae are fragmented. The local organization of decanol and sodium decyl sulphate molecules within the ribbon-like aggregates was also investigated by SANS and deuteron magnetic resonance (DMR). The SANS studies show that the two molecules are not distributed uniformly within the aggregates, while the DMR measurements show that both amphiphilic molecules stay anchored at the amphiphile/water interface by their polar heads. It can then be inferred that the decanol molecules are preferably in the regions of lowest interfacial curvature and the sodium decyl sulphate molecules are in the regions of highest interfacial curvature. This study shows that addition of decanol in the hexagonal phase induces deformation of the cylinders into ribbons by a local flattening of the interface. This deformation, which starts already deep within the hexagonal phase, is not associated with a change of symmetry of the structure. It also appears that a further deformation of the ribbons into lamellae is not needed for the rectangular phase to change into the lamellar phase when the decanol content increases. Thus, in this sequence of phases, the symmetry of the aggregates and those of their organization are not necessarily related.