摘要

It is well known that liquids confined to small nanoscopic pores and droplets exhibit thermal behavior very different from bulk samples. Less is known about liquids spontaneously confined through self-assembly into micellar structures. Here we demonstrate, using a very well-defined n-alkyl-poly(ethylene oxide) polymer system with a tunable structure, that n-alkane(s) forming 2-3 nm small micellar cores are affected considerably by confinement in the form of melting point depressions. Moreover, comparing the reduction in melting points, Delta T-m, determined through volumetric and calorimetric methods with the micellar core radius, R-c, obtained from small-angle x-ray scattering, we find excellent agreement with the well-known Gibbs-Thomson equation, Delta T-m similar to R-c(-1). This demonstrates that the reduced size, i.e., the Laplace pressure, is the dominant parameter governing the melting point depression in micellar systems.

  • 出版日期2014-12-5