Aqueous self-assembly of SDS@2 beta-CD complexes: lamellae and vesicles

Cyclodextrin (CD)/surfactant complexes were usually believed to be quite soluble in water and unable to form aggregates because of the hydrophilic outer surface. However, in this work, SDS@2 beta-CD complex is found to be able to self-assemble into well-defined lamellar structures in concentrated aqueous solution. The lamellae possess unprecedented in-plane solid-crystalline order in addition to classical lamellar liquid-crystalline order. Such a combination in orderliness makes the lamellar phase an intermediate phase between a solid and a liquid crystal. Upon dilution, the lamellae transform to microtubes and then to vesicles. The three classes of SDS@2 beta-CD aggregates share a consistent building block, the channel-type crystalline bilayer membrane. Moreover, since the outer surface of SDS@2 beta-CD is hydrophilic, its self-assembly behavior, unlike traditional amphiphilic assembly, does not rely on the hydrophobic effect. Therefore, the present nonamphiphilic self-assembly of SDS@2 beta-CD is envisioned to open new possibilities for self-assembly chemistry.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000287588800027&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Chemistry, PhysicalMaterials Science, MultidisciplinaryPhysics, MultidisciplinaryPolymer ScienceSCI(E)50ARTICLE51726-1731