Vesicles and lamella: outcome of the changing formation path of a sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate hydrate/1-decanol/water system

Abstract

Vesicles are closed bilayers that enclose a part of the continuous phase inside the core. In spherical shape, they attain the minimum free energy state. Conversely, lamella with maximum free energy remain in planer bilayer shape in the colloidal dispersion. Even with the same amphiphile concentration the colloidal structures depend on different parameters, many of these already addressed in different reports. However, the effect of mixing procedure as a formation path is unidentified. Here we reported water in 1-decanol and 1-decanol in water; these two different mixing procedures yield vesicles and lamella at the same point of the phase diagram of a sodium N-lauroylsarcosinate hydrate/1-decanol/water system. It was found that the favorable and unfavorable contact of water with the weak tertiary ammonium cation in amino-acid head-group plays the crucial role in this process. Moreover, this weak cationic property of this amphoteric surfactant can be exploited to carry DNA for gene therapy with a nontoxic system instead of cationic.