TY - JOUR
T1 - Confined multilamellae prefer cylindrical morphology
T2 - AAAA theory of myelin formation
AU - Huang, J. R.
AU - Zou, L. N.
AU - Witten, T. A.
PY - 2005/11
Y1 - 2005/11
N2 - By evaporating a drop of lipid dispersion we generate the myelin morphology often seen in dissolving surfactant powders. We explain these puzzling nonequilibrium structures using a geometric argument: the bilayer repeat spacing increases and thus the repulsion between bilayers decreases when a multilamellar disk is converted into a myelin without gain or loss of material and with number of bilayers unchanged. Sufficient reduction in bilayer repulsion can compensate for the cost in curvature energy, leading to a net stability of the myelin structure. A numerical estimate predicts the degree of dehydration required to favor myelin structures over flat lamellae.
AB - By evaporating a drop of lipid dispersion we generate the myelin morphology often seen in dissolving surfactant powders. We explain these puzzling nonequilibrium structures using a geometric argument: the bilayer repeat spacing increases and thus the repulsion between bilayers decreases when a multilamellar disk is converted into a myelin without gain or loss of material and with number of bilayers unchanged. Sufficient reduction in bilayer repulsion can compensate for the cost in curvature energy, leading to a net stability of the myelin structure. A numerical estimate predicts the degree of dehydration required to favor myelin structures over flat lamellae.
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U2 - 10.1140/epje/e2005-00035-8
DO - 10.1140/epje/e2005-00035-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 16231071
AN - SCOPUS:27844552576
SN - 1292-8941
VL - 18
SP - 279
EP - 285
JO - European Physical Journal E
JF - European Physical Journal E
IS - 3
ER -