Supermolecular liquid-crystalline structures in solutions of amphiphilic molecules

This paper reviews the physical properties of liquid-crystalline phases arising in solutions containing molecules of amphiphilic substances. The basic characteristics of micelle formation in dilute solutions, models of sphere–disk or sphere–cylinder structural transformations, as well as phase transitions related to the appearance of lyotropic mesophases in the system, including nematic, lamellar, hexagonal, and others, are examined. The results of experimental and theoretical investigation of “solvation” forces acting between micelles in the solvent, as well as recently studied models of swelling of lamellar phases are presented. The phenomena occurring near the inversion point of microemulsions in amphiphile–oil–water systems are examined briefly. The role of liquid-crystalline ordering in some biological systems is discussed.