Micelle-Mediated Self-Assembly of Microfibers Bridging Millimeter-Scale Gap To Form Three-Dimensional-Ordered Polysaccharide Membranes.

Micelle-mediated three-dimensional-ordered polysaccharide membranes are constructed by introducing cationic/anionic surfactant into a liquid crystalline polysaccharide solution. Upon drying mixtures of the polysaccharide solution with the surfactant such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), the polymeric microfibers deposit as a nucleus to form a membrane, bridging millimeter-scale gap with high probability. In particular, in a solution with SDS micellar structures, the microscale fibers with diameter ∼1 μm disassemble into nanoscale fibers with diameter ∼50 nm. This transformation allows the polymeric network to become finer in nanoscale, and the vertical membrane is formed much more easily than that from a pure polysaccharide solution. Furthermore, it is clarified that the vertical membrane has been successfully formed with three-dimensionally ordered microstructures with a linearly oriented and layered structure. This method will shed light on the preparation of hybrid materials with biocompatibility and responsivity to stimuli such as magnetics, electrics, and optics via hybridization with nanomaterials dispersed by surfactants.