RELATING DOMAIN MORPHOLOGY AND LATTICE STRUCTURE IN MONOLAYERS OF GLYCEROL AMIDE LIPIDS

The morphology of condensed phase domains in monolayers of glycerol am ide lipids has been investigated by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). D ifferent nonequilibrium domains with dendritic shapes arise depending on the experimental conditions. Apart from observations in the microme ter range, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) experiments have been performed. Results have been compared to those of glycerol ester lipid monolayers. These amphiphiles differ only in the group linking c hain and headgroup. The change of this linkage has significant influen ce on domain morphology and lattice structure. It is shown that the ma in growth directions of the dendritic domains can be related to direct ions of the oblique lattice of the molecules. The structures at microm eter resolution and at angstrom range are correlated to each other.