Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher.
Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.
-
How bio-membranes are self-organized to perform their functions remains a pivotal issue in biological and chemical science. Understanding the self-assembly principles of lipid-like molecules hence becomes crucial. Here we report the meso-structural evolution of amphiphilic sphere-rod conjugates (giant lipids), and study the roles of geometric parameters (head-tail ratio and cross-section area) during this course. As a prototype system, giant lipids resemble natural lipidic molecules by capturing their essential features including head-tail configuration, monodispersed molecular weight distribution and minor interpenetration of hydrophobic tails. We demonstrate the self-assembly behavior of two categories of giant lipids (I-shape and T-shape, a total of 8more »