Fluctuating Interfaces: a Series of Synchrotron X-Ray Scattering Studies of Interacting Stacked Membranes

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Abstract
In this paper we concentrate on fluctuation phenomena encountered in interacting multilayered fluid membranes using synchrotron x-ray scattering as the primary tool. These systems consisting of surfactant or lipidic surfaces, are prototype models for understanding the statistical behavior of fluctuating surfaces embedded in three-dimensions. In elucidating the nature of fluid membranes we stress a unique intrinsic property: in contrast to usual surfaces with finite shear moduli, where surface tension plays a central role, the free energy of these essentially tensionless surfaces is governed by their geometrical shape and its fluctuations. We present data in a new regime of stability for very dilute and flexible membranes with interlayer separations of order hundreds of Angstroms. This is in contrast to most rigid membranes where the interlayer interactions are dominated by detailed microscopic interactions such as hydration and van der Waals. We show that the stability of these dilute lamellar phases is associated with violent out-of-plane fluctuations of the membranes giving rise to an effectively large long-range repulsive interaction theoretically elucidated by Helfrich. Because of its entropic origin, this interaction is universal and we present data for two different surfactant systems. Finally, we show that this new regime is distinct from the classical regime in which largely separated membrane sheets are stabilized because of their mutual electrostatic repulsion.