Self-assembly of surfactant liquid crystalline phases by Monte Carlo simulation

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Abstract
Three-dimensional microstructures of surfactant–water–oil systems self-assemble in a Monte Carlo lattice model, as shown here. The microstructures that form depend on the volume ratios of oil, water, and surfactant, and on the length of the surfactant, and on the ratio R of the length of the oil-loving to the water-loving portion. For R=1 we find lamellar phases when the surfactant is mixed with equal amounts of oil and water. The lamellar spacing increases as the surfactant concentration is lowered. In the presence of water only, as the surfactant concentration is lowered the microstructure evolves from lamellar to broken lamellar to cylinders to spheroids. This progression is found to be independent of lattice size for lattices as large as 40×40×40. For R=3, the progression seems to be replaced by a progression from lamellae to regular bicontinuous structures to cylinders, although we are not yet confident that this latter progression is independent of lattice size effects. The Monte Carlo technique can be used to study a wide variety of interesting phenomena, from micelle size and shape transitions to packing transitions and phase behavior to interfacial properties in the presence of surfactant.

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