Relationship between Structure and Fluctuations of Lipid Nonlamellar Phases Deposited at the Solid-Liquid Interface.

The structure and dynamics of nanostructure films formed by mixtures of soy phosphatidylcholine and glycerol dioleate at the silicon-aqueous interface were studied by grazing incidence neutron spin echo spectroscopy (GINSES), specular and off-specular neutron reflectometry, and small-angle X-ray diffraction. Reverse hexagonal (HII) and micellar cubic phase (Fd3m) layers at the solid-liquid interface have been identified with neutron reflectometry measurements. A preferred orientation of the liquid crystalline (LC) domains was observed only for the anisotropic HII phase. The size of the LC domains was found to be about 1 micrometer as estimated from the width of the diffraction peaks. GINSES revealed that the cubic phase forms rather rigid films. In comparison, the HII film was more flexible, appearing as a modified undulation spectrum of the cylinders due to the interaction with the substrate.