Structural defects of a lamellar lyotropic mesophase : a neutron scattering study

Abstract
Contrarily to previous expectations, the flat geometry is not the configuration of lowest free energy for the bilayers of SDS in the lamellar phase of SDS/water. Indeed, neutron scattering reveals an unusual pattern of diffuse scattering at small angles, in addition to the regular diffraction spots of a layered mesophase. The diffuse scattering away from the beam is produced by an array of structural defects, with a pseudo-period of 60 Å within one layer. The diffuse scattering around the beam is caused by textural defects, with dimensions larger than 200 Å