MICELLE MOTION IN LYOTROPIC NEMATIC PHASES

Aqueous lyotropic liquid crystalline systems of Type I ( DELTA chi greater than 0), composed of finite cyclindrical micelles, and Type II ( DELTA chi less than 0) composed of finite disc shaped micelles were prepared in thermodynamic equilibrium with the parent mesophases ″Hexagonal H// alpha″ and ″Lamellar L// alpha″ respectively. The degree of order profile was measured for all hydrocarbon segments by substitution of perdeuteriated amphiphiles in the mesophases and the determination of their deuterium quadrupole splittings. The related co-existent phases have degrees of order profile in the chains, which differ by a constant factor in each of the two cases. The order profile is lowered in the nematic liquid crystal because the micelles are finite in size and their symmetry axes can oscillate about the director of the mesophase. An upper limit for the oscillation angle was estimated. The approximations of these estimates are discussed as well as the viability of the nematic mesophases as models for bilayer and membrane model chemistry.