POLYMER NETWORKS WITH LAMELLAR STRUCTURE

The lamellar liquid crystalline phase of a pentaethylene glycol monodo decyl ether (C12E5)/decane/water system is used as a matrix to create amphiphilic polymer network structures from alpha,omega-hydrophobicall y modified poly(oxyethylenes) bearing polymerizable end groups and hyd rophobic comonomers. The polymer networks preserve the characteristic layer structure and the orientation of the liquid crystalline phase ev en after extraction of the templating matrix. This allows the preparat ion of highly anisotropic polymer gels from magnetic field aligned liq uid crystalline phases. The changes of the macroscopic dimensions and the layer spacings of the polymer network structure upon swelling thes e systems in a selective solvent, like water, are strongly correlated. The influence of the molecular weight of the bridging poly(oxyethylen e) chains on the equilibrium swelling of the samples is investigated.