Properties of lipid bilayers at a water‐water interface

This paper is essentially a review of the work on black hydrocarbon films in aqueous media which has been carried out by the author and his colleagues during the last few years. The theory of the formation and stability of the films is discussed in terms of the structure and physical properties of the constituent molecules. Particular consideration is given to the adsorption of the stabilizing molecule and the metastable equilibrium of the resultant thin film. The various systems which have been examined experimentally are described. The interrelation of the film capacitances, thicknesses, and compositions is discussed in the light of the theoretical expectations. The films are permeable to water although the measurement of their permeability is complicated by the difficulty of stirring the boundary layers of the aqueous solutions. There is a discussion of the progress in this problem and the interpretation of the permeability measurements in terms of the structure and composition of the films. Finally some conditions under which films become strongly conducting are described.