MOLECULAR AGGREGATION IN LIPID-WATER DISPERSION PHASES

Polar lipids from aqueous liquid-crystalline phases which are the basis for the understanding of their functionality in technical applications. The structural characteristics of these phases and the relation between chemical structure of lipid molecules and their phase properties are reviewed. Special attention is given to new results on cubic phases, the most complex of lipid-water phases. The lipid bilayer is curved in space so that there are no selfintersections. There are two water-channel systems separated by the bilayer. The characteristic feature of the cubic phases is that the lipid bilayer has zero average curvature in all points.