Investigation of the Ribbon Structure of a Lyotropic Liquid Crystal by Deuterium Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

This paper reports observation, in a mixture of potassium palmitate-$d_3$, potassium laurate, and water, of a lamellar phase above 41°C, a phase of elongated cylindrical aggregates below 36°C, and, in the intermediate temperature region, a phase in which the ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{H}$-NMR spectral patterns can be calculated from a model of elongated ribbon-shaped aggregates. The size of the ribbons can be determined from the spectra and is found to vary with temperature. The results are consistent with ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{H}$-NMR spectra of ${}_{}{}^2{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{H}$ ${}_2{}^{}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{O}$ in the same and other ternary mixtures.