title: Amphiphilic self-assembly of alkanols in protic ionic liquids.
abstract: Strong cohesive forces in protic ionic liquids (PILs) can induce a liquid nanostructure consisting of segregated polar and apolar domains. Small-angle X-ray scattering has shown that these forces can also induce medium chain length n-alkanols to self-assemble into micelle- and microemulsion-like structures in ethylammonium (EA(+)) and propylammonium (PA(+)) PILs, in contrast to their immiscibility with both water and ethanolammonium (EtA(+)) PILs. These binary mixtures are structured on two distinct length scales: one associated with the self-assembled n-alkanol aggregates and the other with the underlying liquid nanostructure. This suggests that EA(+) and PA(+) enable n-alkanol aggregation by acting as cosurfactants, which EtA(+) cannot do because its terminating hydroxyl renders the cation nonamphiphilic. The primary determining factor for miscibility and self-assembly is the ratio of alkyl chain lengths of the alkanol and PIL cation, modulated by the anion type. These results show how ILs can support the self-assembly of nontraditional amphiphiles and enable the creation of new forms of soft matter.
authors: School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
authors: Haihui Joy
authors: HJ
authors: Jiang
authors: Paul A
authors: PA
authors: FitzGerald
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Dolan
authors: Rob
authors: R
authors: Atkin
authors: Gregory G
authors: GG
authors: Warr