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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 93 » Issue 19
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 198301 (2004) [4 pages]

Topological Relaxation of a Shear-Induced Lamellar Phase to Sponge Equilibrium and the Energetics of Membrane Fusion

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L. Porcar1,3, W. A. Hamilton2, P. D. Butler1,2, and G. G. Warr4
1National Institute of Standards and Technology, Center for Neutron Research, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
2Center for Neutron Scattering, Condensed Matter Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
3University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
4School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia

Received 25 May 2004; published 1 November 2004

See accompanying Physics Focus

We report time-resolved small angle neutron scattering (t-SANS) measurements of the topological relaxation of Couette shear-induced stacked Lα lamellar states to their multiconnected isotropic L3 sponge equilibrium phases in a surfactant bilayer membrane system. Comparison of this structural relaxation time to the interval between diffusive membrane contacts, as determined from dynamic light scattering or estimated from the shear rates required for Lα saturation, allows us to determine the activation energy barrier to the membrane fusion process reestablishing the solution channel handles that characterize the sponge phase.

© 2004 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.198301
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.198301
PACS:
82.70.Dd, 47.20.Hw, 61.12.Ex, 87.16.Dg
 
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