Self-Assembly of Trisiloxane-Tailed Sugar Surfactant in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

A lactobionamide-based trisiloxane surfactant (Si3N2–LA) was prepared via a two-step method. Structure characterization of Si3N2–LA was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR). Surface activity and aggregation behavior in aqueous solution of Si3N2–LA were investigated by surface tension measurements, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and negative-stained transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the surfactants can self-assemble into spherical vesicles with diameters in the range from 50 to 150 nm due to the introduction of trisiloxane tail.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Sugar surfactant
• siloxane surfactant
• vesicle

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Shanxi Province Youth Fund (no. 2009021012) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 21073234, 21103228).