pH-Responsive Cyclodextrin-Surfactant Inclusion Complexes: Thermodynamics and Structural Aspects

This thesis presents the investigation of the multilevel assembly of the alkyl oligoethylenoxide carboxylic acids and cyclodextrins. The aim of the work is to combine the short-range host-guest and long-range electrostatic interactions to form highly-ordered supramolecular complexes. The interactions between the components affect their individual response and their properties; therefore, the knowledge of the nature and the influence of their chemical structure is essential to understand the system’s behaviour. Polyoxyethylene alkyl carboxylic acids are an attractive class of surfactants to integrate both inclusion complexes and polyelectrolyte systems due to their pH and thermoresponsivenes…