Gemini amphiphiles regulated photopolymerization of diacetylene acid in organized molecular films.

In this paper, we have investigated the photopolymerization of an amphiphilic diacetylene, 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (PCDA), in organized molecular films in the presence of a series of gemini amphiphiles with different spacer lengths. It has been found that, when gemini amphiphiles were mixed with the diacetylene, the film-forming properties were greatly improved and the photopolymerization could be regulated by the gemini amphiphiles. Miscibility and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) investigations revealed that the polymerization of PCDA in a mixed film was regulated by the mixing ratio and spacer length of the gemini amphiphiles. Although a slight amount of gemini amphiphile did not make the PCDA polymerize into blue films, the increment of the gemini amphiphile with the short spacer length in the mixed film caused the formation of a red film, and the intensity of red phase to blue phase can be modulated by changing the mixing ratios. When gemini amphiphiles with longer spacer lengths were mixed, blue films were predominantly obtained in all mixing ratios. A mechanism including the interaction between the headgroup of the gemini amphiphiles and the diacetylene and the regulation of the spacer was proposed.