HIGHLY ORDERED MATERIALS WITH ULTRA-LOW SURFACE ENERGIES - POLYELECTROLYTE SURFACTANT COMPLEXES WITH FLUORINATED SURFACTANTS

Communication: Are non-stick surfaces ''the chemical analogue of the p erpetual motion machine'', i.e., unattainable? Cheap and simple-to-pro duce systems with ultra-low surface energy-and so on the way towards t his ideal-are polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes. Polarization micro graphs of such systems involving fluorinated surfactants are presented (see also the cover picture) that reveal highly ordered microphases w ith high optical anisotropy that can be easily oriented. X-ray and AFM data are also reported.