Interactions and molecular organization in polymer surfactant systems

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Polymer-surfactant pairs play a critical role in many cosmetic and agriculture products as well as paint and pharmaceutical formulations. The high molecular weight polymers and low molecular weight surfactants are often combined to take advantage of their unique and synergistic properties; for example, the mechanical properties of the polymer and self-assembly behavior of the surfactant. However, polymer-surfactant systems have not been fully exploited for use in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications due to the lack of information available on combinations of biopolymers and nonionic surfactants. To date, most of the fundamental studies on polymer-surfactant systems have included charged surfactants (e.g. sodium dodecyl sulfate) which have limited potential for use in biomedical applications due to their poor safety and toxicity profiles. In this way, the selection of appropriate biopolymer- nonionic surfactant pairs for biomedical applications often proceeds by trial and error.