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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Self-Assembly of Hybrid Lipid Membranes Doped with Hydrophobic Organic Molecules at the Water/Air Interface
Published on: May 1, 2020
Interfaces and the driving force of hydrophobic assembly
1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. chandler@cchem.berkeley.edu
Abstract:
The hydrophobic effect--the tendency for oil and water to segregate--is important in diverse phenomena, from the cleaning of laundry, to the creation of micro-emulsions to make new materials, to the assembly of proteins into functional complexes. This effect is multifaceted depending on whether hydrophobic molecules are individually hydrated or driven to assemble into larger structures. Despite the basic principles underlying the hydrophobic effect being qualitatively well understood, only recently have theoretical developments begun to explain and quantify many features of this ubiquitous phenomenon.
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