Lattice-Boltzmann simulations of self-assembly of a binary water-surfactant system into ordered bicontinuous cubic and lamellar phases.
We used our recently developed mesoscale amphiphilic lattice-Boltzmann method (Nekovee, M.; Coveney, P. V.; Chen, H.; Boghosian, B. M. Phys. Rev. E 2000, 62, 8282-8894) to investigate the dynamics of self-assembly of the bicontinuous cubic phase in a binary water-surfactant system, and the transition from the lamellar structure to a bicontinuous cubic phase. Our study provides insight into how such structures emerge as a result of competing molecular interactions between water and amphiphiles and among amphiphilic molecules themselves, and represents the first application of any lattice-Boltzmann model to amphiphilic systems in three dimensions.
Nekovee
M
M
Centre for Computational Science, Department of Chemistry, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
Coveney
P V
PV