BOWL-SHAPED LIQUID-CRYSTALS AT THE AIR-WATER-INTERFACE

We studied, at the air-water interface, monolayers of bowl-shaped liqu id crystals (BLC). These compounds exhibit columnar mesophases. They c onsist of an either rigid or flexible central core to which are attach ed several hydrophobic aliphatic chains. We investigate experimentally in this work, using different technique (mainly Langmuir balance and displacement current technique), the molecular organization of these c ompounds at the air-water interface and we discuss some of their struc tural aspects. We show also the flexibility of the central core in the case of the 4BCD and discuss its effect on the structure of the monom olecular films.