Mesomorphous structure change by tail chain number in ionic liquid crystalline complexes of linear polymer and amphiphiles

Three polymer-amphiphile complexes were prepared by combining poly（allylamine hydrochloride）（PAH） with the potassium salt of mono-,di-,and trisubstituted benzoic acid dendrons（4-octyloxybenzoic acid,3,5-dioctyloxybenzoic acid,and 3,4,5- trioctyloxybenzoic acid）.The solid structure and properties were monitored with FT-IR,XRD,TG,DSC,and polarized optical microscope（POM）.Difference in the tail chain number of the dendritic amphiphile induced two different mesomorphous structures： lamella for the mono-,disubstituted dendron containing complexes and hexagonal column for the trisubstituted dendron containing complexes.These corresponded to the ionic thermotropic liquid crystal SmA andΦ_h phases,respectively.This finding is significant for design of functional nanostructures based on the ionic complexation of polymers and amphiphiles.