Polysaccharide-induced order-to-order transitions in lyotropic liquid crystals

We report on the order-to-order transitions of lyotropic liquid crystals formed by self-assembled monogylcerides and water in the presence of polysaccharides of various molecular weights. The phase diagram of monoglyceride-water-polysaccharide systems, their morphology, and the topology of liquid crystalline structures were determined by combining optical cross-polarization, oscillatory shear rheometry, and small-angle X-ray scattering. The presence of hydrophilic mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides in the water domains of liquid crystalline phases resulted in a general decrease of the cubic-to-hexagonal transition temperature. Provided that the sugar could fit within the water channels, the decrease was observed to be dependent on the polysaccharide concentration but independent of its molecular weight. For isotropic bicontinuous cubic phases, monomeric sugars such as glucose were reported to shrink the lattice parameter of the structure without inducing phase transitions. However, when a polymeric form of glucose was used, such as dextran, transitions from the gyroidal Ia3d cubic phase to double diamond Pn3m cubic phases were observed at well-defined molecular weights of polysaccharide. These results were interpreted in terms of size exclusions of polymer sugars by the water domains of the liquid crystal phases as well as the different topologies of water channels. Molecular dynamics simulations of polysaccharides in the water environment were performed to support these findings.