Abstract
The non-equilibrium behaviour of surfactant systems, such as the evolution of structures occurring during surfactant phase transitions, has not been much addressed. We investigated the transformation between a monolayer and bilayer topology as it for example occurs during vesicle formation. The spontaneous formation of lipid vesicles (liposomes) in aqueous lecithin/cholesterol/bile salt mixtures was studied using time-resolved light and neutron scattering. The data are in quantitative agreement with a kinetic model that we present. It identifies the key kinetic steps during vesicle formation: rapid transformation to disc-like intermediate micelles, growth of these micelles and closure to form vesicles. Our model furthermore reproduces the correct trend of vesicle size as a function of composition, which equilibrium calculations fail to predict. This indicates that the properties of our vesicles are controlled by kinetics rather than thermodynamics.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | SELF-ASSEMBLY |
| Editors | BH Robinson |
| Place of Publication | AMSTERDAM |
| Publisher | I O S PRESS |
| Pages | 422-431 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISBN (Print) | 1-58603-382-4 |
| Publication status | Published - 2003 |