Phase diagram of ESA complexes at 100 mM NaCl salt concentration
as a function of pentanol and dodecane content relative to the
surfactant weight [wt %]. The natural phenomenon of self-
assembly — how molecules or other entities gather to become
ordered objects or arrays — occurs in many areas of science,
from nanomaterials to biology. Resulting from basic, well
understood forces, such as electrostatics, self-assembly may
allow scientists to manipulate materials at at tiny scales,
ultimately yielding great advances in fields such as data
storage, pharmaceuticals, and catalysis. In efforts to better
understand self-assembly, many researchers are studying self-
assembling systems in solution that consist of an electrolyte
(any molecule that dissociates into ions in solution) attached
to, or “in complex with,” a surfactant, a substance that lowers
the surface tension between two liquids (or between a liquid and
a solid). These liquid systems, called polyelectrolyte-
surfactant complexes (PSCs), are good platforms f