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Folding Langmuir Monolayers

Weixing Lu·Charles M. Knobler·Robijn F. Bruinsma·Michael Dennin·Michael Twardos
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Abstract

The maximum pressure a two-dimensional surfactant monolayer is able to withstand is limited by the collapse instability towards formation of three-dimensional material. We propose a new description for reversible collapse based on a mathematical analogy between the formation of folds in surfactant monolayers and the formation of Griffith Cracks in solid plates under stress. The description, which is tested in a combined microscopy and rheology study of the collapse of a single-phase Langmuir monolayer of 2-hydroxy-tetracosanoic acid (2-OH TCA), provides a connection between the in-plane rheology of LM's and reversible folding.

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Weixing Lu, Charles M. Knobler, Robijn F. Bruinsma, Michael Dennin, Michael Twardos. 2002-05-16. Folding Langmuir Monolayers. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.89.146107

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