Amphiphilic molecules spontaneously self-assemble into ordered nanostructures at the liquid-liquid interface. This presentation will feature how the soft surface of an aqueous microdroplet can be engineered to modulate the key properties of the surface using amphiphilic molecules. In turn, the interfacial surface of the droplet can be employed to influence the formation of a microparticle within the droplet, through templated nucleation. We will show that the use of self-assembled monolayers of various surfactants and other biological lipids having various molecular shape can influence the surface properties of the monolayer and bilayer. In addition, the subtle characteristic interactions between the droplet content and the self-assembled structure at the monolayer and bilayer will be shown to have a remarkable difference in its packing arrangements and permeability.  The successful demonstration of soft surface engineering at the micron size level will play a signicant role in predicting and allowing to control the final nanostructure formed by amphiphilic systems.

Engineering of monolayers and bilayers at an aqueous microdroplet

248th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.