Influence of Ionic Liquid and Light Intensity on a Polymer Nanostructure Formed in Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Templates

Utilizing self-assembled lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) templates with radical photopolymerization shows promise in controlling polymer structure on the nanometer scale This control of nanostructure allows tailoring and enhancement of material properties not attainable in traditional polymerization in applications including hydrogels and stimuli-responsive systems. However, thermodynamically driven phase separation between the polymer and LLC templates often hinders the control of local polymer order and resultant polymer properties. This study investigates an alternative method to control the hydrogel nanostructure and avoid phase separation using imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) in the LLC template while modulating the light intensity used in photopolymerization. The addition of the IL improves the thermodynamic stability and enhances the polymerization rate in the LLC system. The degree of LLC nanostructure retention is increased by increasing light intensities during polymerization. In addition, intermediate concentrations of cross-linker allow a balance between phase stability and cross-linking to lock in LLC morphology. With enhanced retention, the maximum water uptake is significantly higher compared with isotropic controls. These results demonstrate a method to increase the structure on the nanometer scale of a polymer by combining the addition of ILs with the proper selection of light intensity and cross-link density that allows access to unique hydrogel properties. These templated polymers demonstrate enhanced swelling and a stimuli response that show promise in applications ranging from drug delivery to water remediation.