Passages in Lecithin-Water Systems

Abstract

Large numbers of tunnel-like structures apparently connecting neighbouring bilayers were found in phase-contrast microscopy of certain preparations of egg lecithin in water. These passages either cause a pairing of the bilayers or form threedimensional lattices. They appear to originate while the lecithin swells in water. Some theoretical aspects of passage formation in fluid bilayers is shown to be 4πx̅, x̅ being the elastic modulus of Gaussian curvature.