Sorenson Gregory P, Schmitt Adam K, Mahanthappa Mahesh K
Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1101 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Soft Matter. 2014 Nov 7;10(41):8229-35. doi: 10.1039/c4sm01226g.
Network phase aqueous lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) are technologically useful materials with myriad applications in chemistry, biology, and materials science, which stem from their structurally periodic aqueous and hydrophobic nanodomains (∼0.7-5.0 nm in diameter) that are lined with well-defined chemical functionalities. The exclusive observation of bicontinuous cubic network phase LLCs (e.g., double gyroid, double diamond, and primitive phases) has fueled speculations that all stable LLC network phases must exhibit cubic symmetry. Herein, we describe the self-assembly behavior of a simple aliphatic gemini surfactant that forms the first example of a triply periodic network phase LLC with the 3D-hexagonal symmetry P63/mcm (space group #193). This normal, tetracontinuous 3D-hexagonal network LLC phase HI(193) partitions space into four continuous and interpenetrating, yet non-intersecting volumes. This discovery directly demonstrates that the gemini amphiphile platform furnishes a rational strategy for discovering and stabilizing new, three-dimensionally periodic multiply continuous network phase LLCs with variable symmetries and potentially new applications.
网络相水性溶致液晶（LLCs）是具有重要技术用途的材料，在化学、生物学和材料科学领域有众多应用，这源于其结构周期性的水性和疏水性纳米域（直径约0.7 - 5.0纳米），这些纳米域排列有明确的化学官能团。对双连续立方网络相LLCs（如双螺旋、双菱形和原始相）的唯一观察引发了这样的推测：所有稳定的LLC网络相都必须呈现立方对称性。在此，我们描述了一种简单脂肪族双子表面活性剂的自组装行为，该表面活性剂形成了具有三维六方对称性P63/mcm（空间群#193）的三重周期性网络相LLC的首个实例。这种普通的、四重连续的三维六方网络LLC相HI(193)将空间划分为四个连续且相互贯穿但不相交的体积。这一发现直接表明，双子两亲分子平台为发现和稳定具有可变对称性及潜在新应用的新型三维周期性多重连续网络相LLC提供了一种合理策略。
