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C Ligoure

Publications and source records attributed to C Ligoure.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Quantitative analysis of lyotropic lamellar phases SANS patterns in powder oriented samples.

We have developed a detailed numerical method based on the Caillé model to fit Small Angle Neutron Scattering profiles of powder-oriented lyotropic lamellar phases. We thus obtain quantitative values for the Caillé parameter and the smectic penetration length from which we can derive the smectic compression modulus and the membrane mean bending modulus. Our method, applied to a surfactant lamellar phase system decorated by amphiphilic copolymers, provides excellent fits for any intermembrane spacing or membrane concentration over the entire q-range of the SANS experiments. We compare our fits with those obtained from the model of Nallet et al. (J. Phys. II 3, 487 (1993)), which is reviewed. Good fits are obtained with both methods for samples exhibiting "hard" smectic order (sharp Bragg peak, moderate small angle scattering). Only our procedure, however, gives good fits in the case of "soft" smectic order (smooth Bragg peak, strong small angle scattering). A quantitative criterion to discriminate between these "soft" and "hard" samples is also proposed, based on a simple analogy with smectic-A liquid crystal in contact with an undulating solid surface. This allows us to anticipate the type of thermodynamic information that can be derived from the fits.

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PubMed2000

Unusual Interfacial Phase Behavior of Two Nonmiscible Liquids in a Cylindrical Test Tube: Equilibrium Shapes and Stability of Axisymmetric Liquid Bridges under Gravity.

In this paper the unusual interfacial phase behavior of two nonmiscible fluids contained in a cylindrical glass test tube is reported. Water, which is the lighter phase, takes up the upper part of the tube, whereas the denser compound (a hydrofluorocarbon) is in the bottom. However, below some critical volume of water, the denser phase emerges at the air surface, by forming an axisymmetric liquid bridge through the aqueous phase. Above the critical condition, the formation of the bridge, the evolution of the shape of this bridge, and its final breakdown can be visually inspected after shaking the tube. The minority liquid (water) is dispersed in the majority phase (HCFC) as an unstable dispersion of droplets. Droplets rise to the air surface under the action of the buoyant force, and coalesce on the glass wall: this leads to the formation of a bridge (made from the dispersion in the middle of a hollow axisymmetric water drop), whose height increases and thickness decreases during the coalescence process, until it breaks down. Using a free energy analysis, we state the exact variational problem via its Euler-Lagrange equation. However, since this nonlinear differential equation cannot be solved analytically, a simplified "mean-field" approach is developed, which provides a comprehensive insight into the physical origin of these capillary bridges and their stability under gravity. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

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