Highly ordered materials with ultra‐low surface energies: Polyelectrolyte–surfactant, complexes with fluorinated surfactants

Abstract

Are non‐stick surfaces “the chemical analogue of the perpetual motion machine”, i.e., unattainable? Cheap and simple‐to‐produce systems with ultra‐low surface energy—and so on the way towards this ideal—are polyelectrolyte–surfactant complexes. Polarization micrographs of such systems involving fluorinated surfactants are presented (see also the cover picture) that reveal highly ordered microphases with high optical anisotropy that can be easily oriented. X‐ray and AFM data are also reported.