ETH Polymer Physics seminar


1998-09-09
16:15 at CAB D28

Micellar and Inverse Micellar Cubic Phases of Surfactants and Lipids

John Seddon

Department of Chemistry, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AY

Amphiphilic molecules such as surfactants and lipids may adopt an extraordinary range of lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophases, with structures which are ordered in 1-D, 2-D or 3-D. The three-dimensionally ordered phases are usually cubic in symmetry, but within this class a range of microstructures and topologies are found. One family of such structures are the bicontinuous cubic phases, based on underlying periodic minimal surfaces. However, a quite different type of cubic phase, based upon packings of discrete micellar or inverse micellar aggregates, may also be formed by a variety of amphiphilic systems. In this seminar I will attempt to give an overview, using results from our own work as examples, of the locations of cubic phases in lyotropic phase diagrams, their structures, the range of systems in which they are observed, and the factors which control their formation, stability and structure.


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