From Channel‐Forming Ionic Liquid Crystals Exhibiting Humidity‐Induced Phase Transitions to Nanostructured Ion‐Conducting Polymer Membranes (Adv. Mater. 26/2013)

: A novel wedge-shaped amphiphilic molecule bearing a sulfonate group at the tip displays humidity-induced phase transitions from a hexagonal columnar structure to a bicontinuous cubic phase. The mesophases can be frozen by photopolymerization of acrylic end-groups resulting in free-standing membranes with different topology of ionic nanochannels. The obtained membranes with a well-ordered ionic channel structure hold promise for applications in separation and catalysis.