화학공학소재연구정보센터
Langmuir, Vol.27, No.2, 554-560, 2011
Nafion as Cosurfactant: Solubilization of Nafion in Water in the Presence of Pluronics
Incorporation of Nafion to aqueous solutions of Pluronics adversely impacts micellization due to extensive Nafion/copolymer interactions. Light scattering and zeta potential measurements provide evidence for the formation of sizable and stable Nafion/copolymer complexes, in expense of the neat copolymer micelles. At high copolymer concentrations, the overall interaction diagram of Nafion/copolymer reflects the competitive action of the release of packing constraints due to micellar destabilization induced by Nation on one hand and the gelator nature of the Nation on the other. Measurements using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) show that aqueous solutions of Pluronics (even at very low concentration) can dissolve the Nation coating on the crystal resonator, while typical low molecular weight ionic surfactants fail to induce similar effects. These studies demonstrate that complexation with this class of copolymers is a facile route to impart dispersibility to Nation in aqueous environments that otherwise can be achieved through tedious and harsh treatments.