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Free keywords:
Morphology, Tubules, Beads, Discs, Junctions, Membrane, Multi-lamellar, Lyotropic, Lipids, phase, Hydration
Abstract:
In this paper, experimental results on the swelling, dispersion and disintegration of the lipid, 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) in contact with excess water are described. Multilamellar structures nucleate, grow and retract from the defects at the interface between the pure solvent and the dried lipid following a quench from an equilibrium phase. The system evolves slowly via flow and coalescence of the lamellae through a variety of nonequilibrium morphologies demonstrating that the dynamics is complex and non-universal, with no unique kinetic pathway. The tubular structures disintegrate slowly into the bulk water phase in the sealed sample cells.
