Polymerization kinetics of (meth)acrylates in self-assembled structures

Polymer stabilized Pluronic surfactants are used to mimic polymer stabilized liquid crystals. Aqueous monomers such as PEG200DA will partition into poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) regions and lamellae structures are possible with 28 wt% and 6 wt% L64. There is an increase in the polymerization rate for the lamellae sample relative to the isotropic sample. This suggests that the monomer is concentrated into layers between the surfactants. Further experiments will be performed to characterize the polymerization kinetics, and quantify the layer spacing.