Investigation of Micellization and Vesiculation of Conjugated Linoleic Acid by Means of Self‐Assembling and Self‐Crosslinking

Bioactive and biocompatible conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been only considered as a food or medicine ingredient due to its rare natural occurrence. In this work, the surface activities and pH‐induced self‐assembling behaviors of the semi‐synthetic CLA molecules into micelles or vesicles were systematically investigated. First, the self‐assembling of CLA was studied in detail, and it was found that aside from temperature and ionic strength, pH is the prominent factor affecting the self‐assembling of CLA. Moreover, stable CLA ufasomes (unsaturated fatty acid liposomes) in uniform size were obtained by self‐crosslinking of the CLA ufasomes, and the morphologies of the crosslinked CLA assemblies were recorded by transmission electron microscopy, which made known the pH‐induced formation of the CLA ufasomes or the CLA micelles. The crosslinked CLA assemblies presented improved properties such as a higher calcium stability, a lower lime soap dispersing requirement and a better solubilization ability than that of the CLA molecules themselves or the pre‐crosslinked linoleic acids. These investigations could be helpful for comprehensively understanding effects of environment factors on self‐assembling behaviors of conjugated fatty acids and responsive polymerization of polymerizable surfactants.