Polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes (PSCs) are used to create nanostructured solid materials through two methods. First, they are combined with co-surfactant and oil to form electrostatically self-assembled amphiphilic complexes (ESAs). These materials exhibit long-range order at the nanoscale for cubic, hexagonal, and lamellar morphologies and demonstrate the ability to swell upon addition of a hydrophobic species. The effects of polyelectrolyte charge density and co-surfactant identity were investigated in regards to their influence on phase transitions and extent of swelling. The impact that molecular weight and charge density of the polyelectrolyte have on ESA structure was given a detailed look. A methodology was developed whereby ESAs that showed morphological coexistence when first formed could be forced into a well-ordered hexagonal phase, and the effects of ionic strength and co-surfactant content on this process were examined. Small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) was the primary instrumentation used for this work. Secondly, PSCs were formed from a crosslinkable biopolymer to eventually form crosslinked polyelectrolyte hydrogels. A chemical route was extablished and the gels characterized by SAXS, rheology, and light scattering.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-4140 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Creators | Wong, Waiken K |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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