SELF-ASSEMBLY IN BINARY MIXTURES OF AMPHIPHILES: FROM SMART TO IONIC LIQUID BEHAVIOUR

Binary mixtures of liquid surfactants, owing to the amphiphilic nature of the molecules involved, can exhibit peculiar self-assembly. The amphiphilicity can be tuned by changing the length of the molecule alkyl chains and the nature of the polar head groups. If the surfactants are opportunely chosen (i.e. one basic and the other acidic) the resulting self-assembly can confer a lot of novel and interesting properties. This leads to smart materials and even to ionic liquids. This is an unprecedentedly easy way to prepare materials with desired properties. The strategy will be presented as well as some examples of recent developments