Theory of self-assembly of hydrocarbon amphiphiles into micelles and bilayers

Abstract

A simple theory is developed that accounts for many of the observed physical properties of micelles, both globular and rod-like, and of bilayer vesicles composed of ionic or zwitterionic amphiphiles. The main point of departure from previous theories lies in the recognition and elucidation of the role of geometric constraints in self-assembly. The linking together of thermodynamics, interaction free energies and geometry results in a general framework which permits extension to more complicated self-assembly problems.