Researches on the construction, structure, and formation of vesicles formed from surfactants have attracted great attention from colloid and interface chemists. The vesicles formed from salt-free cationic-anionic surfactant systems are very different from those with excess salts, having many particular properties. In this paper, we introduce the properties of vesicles prepared from salt-free surfactant systems, according to our own results, especially the vesicles formed from surfactants with divalent metal ions as counterions in aqueous solutions and room temperature ionic liquids. Moreover, the primary results on template effect of the metal-ligand vesicles have also been summarized.
Aluminium laurate [Al(OOCC11H23)3] was synthesized as a surfactant, which can dissolve in micellar solution of a zwitterionic surfactant, tetradecycldimethylamine oxide (C14DMAO). The phase behavior of the mixtures of Al(OOCC11H23)3 and C14DMAO in water was studied and birefringent Lα-phase was observed. The birefringent Lα-phase consists of vesicles that were demonstrated by Polarizer and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) micrographs. Al3+-coordinated vesicles could be used as templating-precursor, providing a vesicle-route for preparation of inorganic nanoscale particles.
DONG RenHao WANG LiHuan YUAN ZaiWu SONG AiXin HAO JingCheng
Achiral diacetylene 10,12-pentacosadinoic acid (PCDA) and a chiral low-molecular-weight organogelator could form co-gel in organic solvent and it could be polymerized in the presence of Zn(II) ion or in the corresponding xerogel under UV-irradiation. Optically active polydiacetylene (PDA) were subsequently obtained. Supramolecular chirality of PDA could be controlled by the chirality of gelators. Left-handed and right-handed helical fibers were obtained by using Land D-gelators in xerogels respectively, and CD spectra exhibited mirror-image circular dichroism. The PDA in xerogel exhibited typical blue-to-red transition responsive to the temperature and pH, while the supramolecular chirality of PDA showed a corresponding change.
