| Abstract: | The effect of temperature on the surface phase behavior in Langmuir monolayers of monomyristoyl-rac-glycerol (MMG) at the air-water interface has been studied by film balance and Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). It is observed that the domains of the MMG monolayers formed in the coexistence region between the liquid expanded (LE) and liquid condensed (LC) phases retain their circular shape over the studied temperature range, showing a sharp contrast to the temperature-dependent monolayer morphologies of amphiphilic systems where the shape of condensed domains changes either from compact circular to fingering or from irregular or spiral to compact patterns with increasing temperature. It is concluded that the system is capable of tuning the line tension of the interface by the effect of the increase in the hydrophobic character because of dehydration of the headgroup, which imparts to the molecules the properties of similar molecules but with less hydrophilic headgroups. As a result, the domains can retain their circular shape even up to the maximum possible temperature of the phase transition. |
