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Updated: Sep 23, 2025

Biomembrane Fabrication by the Solvent-assisted Lipid Bilayer SALB Method
Published on: December 1, 2015
Understanding segregation processes in SAMs formed by mixtures of hydroxylated and non-hydroxylated fatty acids
Otto V M Bueno1, J J Benítez2, Miguel A San-Miguel1
1Department of Physical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP P. O. Box 6154 13083-970 Campinas SP Brazil smiguel@unicamp.br.
Abstract:
In this paper, we focus on the segregation processes emerging when preparing mixtures with different compositions of aleuritic (9,10,16 trihydroxyhexadecanoic) (ALE) and palmitic (hexadecanoic) (PAL) acids. The combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations enabled us to prove the role of the functional groups in the formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on muscovite mica surfaces. MD simulations indicate that segregation processes are favored in high ALE composition mixtures in agreement with the experimental evidence, whereas low ALE compositions promote the co-existence between segregated and dispersed systems. The secondary hydroxyl groups play a central role in the self-assembling mechanism because they control the formation of hydrogen bonding networks guarantying system stability.
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