Cubic phases of amphiphilic molecular aggregates

Stability and geometry of the lyotropic periodic cubic mesophases are considered in the framework of a general symmetry based phenomenological approach. A limited number of cubic structural types is shown to be formed by amphiphilic molecular aggregates due to the specific nature of self-organizing units. The related thermodynamic models predict topology of phase diagrams and specific features of transitions between isotropic, lamellar, cubic bicontinuous and cubic micellar phases. Received 25 February 1999 and Received in final form 29 June 1999