A gemini surfactant-containing system with abundant self-assembly morphology and rheological behaviors tunable by photoinduction

Abstract

The photoisomerization of OMCA affects the degree of OMCA participation in the formation of mixed micelles and results in the transformation of micellar morphologies.

Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Density Functional Theory on Unraveling Photoresponsive Behavior of Wormlike Micelles Constructed by 12-2-12·2Br– and trans-ortho-Methoxy Cinnamate

“…Regarding the experimental research on photoresponsive wormlike micelle systems, 12-2-12·2Br – and OMCA in water solution emerged as a photoresponsive system with different morphologies . At high concentration, the 12-2-12·2Br – surfactant will form vesicles and even liquid crystals with a large aggregation number.…”

“…A great scientific challenge over the past years in the soft matter field has been transferred to design adaptable materials in response to the triggers aroused by environmental changes, which can significantly alter their configurations and functionalities . These smart self-assembly materials can dynamically respond to external environmental changes including electrical-, photo-, thermal-, pH-, magnetic-, CO 2 -stimulus and even multiple stimuli. − Among these stimuli, light stands out owing to its outstanding characteristics including responding noninvasively, operating simply, accessing easily and aiming at a precise spatial location. , The photoresponsive viscoelastic fluids composed of wormlike micelles are of particular interest because these viscoelastic fluids with tunable aggregate morphologies and rheological properties have played an increasingly important role in many fields such as microfluidics, drug delivery, sensors, drag reduction agents, and so on. − As is well known, owing to special amphiphilic properties, surfactants can form different kinds of self-assembly aggregates such as spherical micelles, wormlike micelles, vesicles or gels, , and liquid crystals (LCs) . Without a doubt, smart self-assembly materials constructed by surfactants have become one of the hotspots that researchers pay much attention to recent years …”

“…The alteration in the molecular structure of OMCA aroused the long wormlike micelles to transform into short rodlike micelles with the solution viscosity degrading over 4 orders of magnitude. Following this paper, several studies were carried out revealing analogous effects in different surfactant solutions containing OMCA and its derivatives. ,− It is generally known that the Gemini surfactant is a type of surfactant consisting of two amphiphilic chains linked by a spacer at or near the hydrophilic head groups. Unlike conventional surfactants, Gemini surfactants possess not only richer aggregation morphologies but also excellent physicochemical properties such as lower critical micelle concentration and stronger self-assembly ability .…”

“…A great scientific challenge over the past years in the soft matter field has been transferred to design adaptable materials in response to the triggers aroused by environmental changes, which can significantly alter their configurations and functionalities. 1 These smart self-assembly materials can dynamically respond to external environmental changes including electrical-, 2 photo-, 3 thermal-, 4 pH-, 5 magnetic-, 6 CO 2 -stimulus and even multiple stimuli. 7−9 Among these stimuli, light stands out owing to its outstanding characteristics including responding noninvasively, operating simply, accessing easily and aiming at a precise spatial location.…”

“…21 Adding certain photosensitive molecules directly to a surfactant solution is the most effective and simplest method to obtain a photoresponsive wormlike system. 3,22,23 For example, Raghavan et al proposed a simple photorheological fluid system based on the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and the photoresponsive organic derivative trans-ortho-methoxycinnamic acid (trans-OMCA) in aqueous solution. 24 The mixture of trans-OMCA and CTAB generated elongated and entangled wormlike micelles.…”