Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Phase Behavior of Charged Vesicles Under Symmetric and Asymmetric Solution Conditions Monitored with Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: October 24, 2017
Phase behavior of mixed solution of a glycerin-modified cationic surfactant and an anionic surfactant
Koji Tsuchiya1, Jun Ishikake, Tae Seong Kim
1Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba 278-8510, Japan.
Abstract:
The phase behavior of mixed solution of newly synthesized monoglycerylcetyldimethylammonium chloride (MGCA) and sodium octyl sulfate (SOS) in water was investigated by cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and fluorescence polarizing for evaluation of the microviscosity of bilayers. No precipitate was observed in the mixed solution except at concentrations below 20 mM over all mixing ratios, and stable vesicles were formed in a considerably wide range of mixing ratio, even at the equimolar ratio. Vesicles formed in aqueous 1/1 MGCA/SOS mixture were found to exhibit no phase transition, and fluorescence polarizing measurements showed that the vesicle bilayers have a high fluidity. This flexibility allows the bilayers to have a spontaneous curvature, and thus vesicles rather than flat lamellae can be stabilized in the mixture even at the equimolar ratio. In addition, because the glycerin group of MGCA interacts strongly with water, the hydration repulsion contributes to prevent the bilayers consisting of MGCA and SOS from adhering and flocculating even though the charge neutralization between MGCA and SOS occurs at the equimolar ratio.
Related Concept Videos
Surface Active Agents
Micelles
Cationic Chain-Growth Polymerization: Mechanism
Solubility
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules, atoms, and/or ions)...
Chemical and Solubility Equilibria
Phase Diagrams of Ternary Systems

