Unstable topography of biphasic surfactant monolayers

Details Unstable topography of biphasic surfactant monolayers Unstable topography of biphasic surfactant monolayers

2000-05-22

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0005359v2

Europhys Lett 52, 171 (2000)

Physics

Condensed Matter

Soft Condensed Matter

7 pages, 7 figures, LaTex using epl.cls, accepted for Europhys Lett

Scientific paper

10.1209/epl/i2000-00419-1

We study the conformation of a heterogeneous surfactant monolayer at a fluid-fluid interface, near a boundary between two lateral regions of differing elastic properties. The monolayer attains a conformation of shallow, steep `mesas' with a height difference of up to 10 nm. If the monolayer is progressively compressed (e.g. in a Langmuir trough), the profile develops overhangs and finally becomes unstable at a surface tension of about K(delta c_0)^2, where (delta c_0) is the difference in spontaneous curvature and K a bending stiffness. We discuss the relevance of this instability to recently observed folding behavior in lung surfactant monolayers, and to the absence of domain structures in films separating oil and water in emulsions.

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