title: Self-assembled films formed at the air-water interface from CTAB/SDS mixtures with water-soluble polymers.
abstract: We have investigated the spontaneous self-assembly of solid, mesostructured films that form at the air-solution interface on solutions containing a neutral water-soluble polymer and catanionic surfactant mixtures of hexadecyl-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS). The formation processes and structures were probed using neutron reflectivity, X-ray reflectivity, off-specular time-resolved scattering, and grazing incidence diffraction. The mesostructures of films prepared with polyethylene oxide, polyethylenimine, and polyacrylamide at various cationic/anionic surfactant molar ratios are compared. The results suggest that polymers having a weak interaction with the surfactants cause a depletion aggregation process that results in a lamellar phase, whereas polymers having a stronger interaction with the surfactants produce more complex mesostructures in the films.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. k.edler@bath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Edler
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wasbrough
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Holdaway
authors.forename: Benjamin M D
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: O'Driscoll