Spherocylindrical and Disk-Like Aggregates in Single Component and Multicomponent Amphiphilic Systems

Abstract

The formation of spherocylindrical and disklike aggregates in amphiphilic-water systems is considered on the basis of a simple molecular model. This model explicitly takes into account the liquid crystal properties of the amphiphilic monolayer (its bending elasticity), as well as the “two dimensional” entropy of mixing in the monolayer's plane (in case of multicomponent monolayers). The results obtained in this work could be of significance in the preliminary selection of mixtures that give lyotropic nematic phases.