Polymerization of head and tail methacrylate micelle-forming surfactants and thermotropic liquid-crystalline character of these monomers and their polymers

The polymerization in micellar and isotropic media of a head-tail pair of surfactants, i.e. of monomers bearing the methacrylate group either at the polar head or at the end of the lipophilic chain is investigated in this study. Owing to the tailor-made structure of these monomers, any differentiations observed in their polymerization can be primarily attributed to topochemical effects resulting from the different location of the polymerizable group in the two monomers. Both monomers exhibited mesomorphic-like textures, which were examined by optical microscopy and DSC studies. Also, their respective polymers showed mesomorphic behaviour, which was found to be dependent on the position of the backbone relative to the polar head.