Perfluorodecalin Incorporation in Fluorinated Surfactant−Water System: Tailoring of Mesoporous Materials Pore Size

Oil incorporation can strongly affect the phase behavior of surfactant/water systems. In the first part of our experiments, the effect of perfluorodecalin (PFD) addition on the fluorinated surfactant CF3(CF2)7C2H4(OC2H4)9OH/water system was investigated. L1 micellar phase, direct hexagonal (H1), and cubic (I1) liquid crystals were identified. Phase behavior and SAXS measurements proved that the liquid crystals phase can be swelled by PFD, whereas only 1% of oil can be incorporated into the hydrophobic core of micelles (L1). Reflections lines of the cubic phase have been indexed in the Fm3m space group. Large pore mesoporous materials were then synthesized by incorporating PFD as a swelling agent. The present work shows that PFD is an effective expander to enlarge the pore size of mesoporous materials. Characterization of the recovered materials and evolution of CF3(CF2)7C2H4(OC2H4)9OH/water system with PFD loading led us to propose a mechanism describing the swelling effect of PFD.