pH-Switchable molecular self-assemblies in surface active ionic liquid/anionic surfactant mixed system

Abstract

Abstract The pH-switchable molecular self-assemblies formed by the N-hexadecyl-N-methylpiperidinium bromide ionic liquid and trans-o-coumaric acid were systematically studied. Rheological measurements, cryo-transmission electronic microscopy results and dynamic light scattering confirmed that the change in the viscoelasticity was due to the deformation of micelles between spherical micelles and wormlike micelles when the pH was gradually varied. The UV–Vis spectrum indicated that the transformation of the aggregates was caused by variation in the hydrophobic and electrostatic interaction ability of tOCA with C16MDB as a function of pH.