Structured polymer networks from O/W-microemulsions and liquid crystalline phases

The droplet and the lamellar liquid crystalline phase of a pentaethylene glycol monodocecyl ether (C(12)E(5))/decane/water system is used as a matrix to create new amphiphilic polymer network structures from alpha,omega-hydrophobically modified poly(oxyethylene) bearing polymerizable end groups and hydrophobic comonomers. The influence of the individual ''subnetworks'' on the structure and phase behavior of the system is discussed. The fraction of bridge- and loop-forming polymer chains as a function of the droplet concentration in the system can be estimated from mechanical data. The number of bridges decreases considerably below a certain threshold concentration corresponding to the root-mean-square end-to-end distance of the poly(oxyethylene) chains.