Functional Lyotropic Liquid CrystalMaterials - Liquid Crystalline Functional Assemblies and Their Supramolecular Structures - page 188

Fig. 7 TEM image showing the CdS replica of the H I phase of an oligo(ethylene oxide)
oleyl ether amphiphile ( inset ). Reproduced with permission from [34]. © 1996 by the

Nature Publishing Group

The possibility of enhancing the properties of the composites by function-
alizing the organic component has been proposed, but to our knowledge this
has yet to be realized [43]. In our opinion, this is an important area for future
work, given the promise of enhanced functionality and materials properties
that they hold.

2.2
Templated Nanowire Synthesis

In addition to porous nanostructures and nanocomposites, nanowires can
also be formed by templating with LLCs [49-51]. As opposed to H I phases,
which compartmentalize the LLCs into the “channels”, these nanowires are
generally formed from H II phases. Here, the metal ions are confined to the
channels, and the confinement can be preserved when electrodeposition takes
place. As an example, the surfactant, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate
(AOT), which forms a H II mesophase, has been used to template Ag + ions
which were electrodeposited to form Ag nanowires tens of nanometers long
and 20-30 nm in diameter (Fig. 9). Interestingly, the wires also had orien-
tational order, being organized perpendicular to the cathode surface. This
suggests that the high electric field during electrodeposition may enhance