2003/12/23 by H. Bermudez, H. Bermúdez, D. A. Hammer +1 · 3 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Lipid Membrane Structure and Behavior #Polydiacetylene-based materials and applications #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/la035497f
published as Langmuir, vol. 20, pp. 540-543 (2004)
openalex publication_date 2003/12/23 · arxiv created 2004/01/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The bending rigidity k(c) of bilayer vesicles self-assembled from amphiphilic diblock copolymers has been measured using single- and dual-micropipet techniques. These copolymers are nearly a factor of 5 greater in hydrophobic membrane thickness d than their lipid counterparts and an order of magnitude larger in molecular weight M(n). The macromolecular structure of these amphiphiles lends insight into and extends relationships for traditional surfactant behavior. We find the scaling of k(c) with thickness to be nearly quadratic, in good agreement with existing theories for bilayer membranes. The results here are key to understanding and designing soft interfaces such as biomembrane mimetics.