ABSTRACT
The liquid crystal phases of a thermotropic material are generated by changes in temperature. However, lyotropic liquid crystal phases are formed on the dissolution of amphiphilic molecules of a material in a solvent. Similarly, phase diagrams have been constructed for the various concentrations of cationic surfactant lyotropic liquid crystals, but cationic surfactant liquid crystal systems have been less studied than the anionic variety. The construction of phase diagrams of poly(oxyethylene) materials in water reveals the generation of lyotropic liquid crystal phases. Micelles are aggregates of molecules that form such that the non-polar chains aggregate together and are effectively removed from the water solvent by the surrounding polar head groups. In general, the lyotropic liquid crystal phases of surfactant systems have been extensively investigated over the whole concentration range. As the name implies, the hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal phases have a molecular aggregate ordering which corresponds to a hexagonal arrangement.
