Morphological behavior of mixed skin lipids

The phase behavior of ceramides IV, the rigid palmitic acid, the fluid olei c acid and the fluid alpha-methyl palmitic acid in pure and mixed monolayer s at the air/water interface is reported. Like natural oleic acid the synth esized alpha-methyl palmitic acid forms fluid-expanded films, but they are stable with time. All described mixtures were transferred to hydrophilic su rface of a Si-wafer as z-type Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers. The surface mor phology of these layers is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). It could be shown that addition of all three fatty acids to ceramides IV ch anges the morphological properties of the film.