Structural and thermal study of mesomorphic dodecylammonium carrageenates

Model of dodecylammonium carrageenate in the layered liquid crystalline state after a short annealing dynamics simulation: carbon (dark gray), hydrogen (light gray), oxygen (red), sulphate (yellow), nitrogen (blue). Structural characteristics and thermal stability of a series of dodecylammonium carrageenates formed by stoichiometric complexation of dodecylammonium chloride and differently charged carrageenans (κ-, ι- and λ-carrageenan, respectively) were investigated. IR spectral analysis confirmed the electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions between the dodecylammonium and carrageenan species. X-ray diffraction experiments show increased ordering in the complexes compared to that in the parent carrageenans. Dodecylammonium carrageenates have a layer structure, in which a polar sublayer contains layers of carrageenan chains and a nonpolar sublayer consists of conformationally disordered dodecylammonium chains electrostatically attached to the carrageenan backbone. The major factor that determines the dodecylammonium carrageenate structure is cationic surfactant, while the carrageenans moiety plays a major role in determining thermal properties.