New nano- and microparticles with a liquid-crystal-like interior

Mixtures of oppositely charged surfactants and polyelectrolytes yield well- defined monodisperse particles with a liquid-crystal-like interior in aqueous solution, as evidenced by the neutron scattering data shown in the figure. The particle size increases exponentially with the surfactant concentration, linearly with the charge on the polymer backbone, and is independent of the polymer concentration.