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Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
Nanoscale Structure of the Oil-Water Interface
M Fukuto1, B M Ocko1, D J Bonthuis2
1Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Sciences Department and NSLS II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
Abstract:
X-ray reflectivity (XR) and atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, carried out to determine the structure of the oil-water interface, provide new insight into the simplest liquid-liquid interface. For several oils (hexane, dodecane, and hexadecane) the XR shows very good agreement with a monotonic interface-normal electron density profile (EDP) broadened only by capillary waves. Similar agreement is also found for an EDP including a sub-Å thick electron depletion layer separating the oil and the water. The XR and MD derived depletions are much smaller than reported for the interface between solid-supported hydrophobic monolayers and water.
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