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American Physical Society, Physical Review Letters, 21(95), 2005

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.95.218101

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Spontaneous and Reversible Switch from Amphiphilic to Oil-Like Structures

Journal article published in 2005 by Frederic Pincet, David Tareste, Martine Ben Amar, Éric Perez
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Abstract

Current theories assume that the amphiphilicity of biological membranes is always preserved. We observed that two hydrogen-bonding lipid layers in contact can spontaneously and reversibly lose their amphiphilic structure and turn into an assembly of oily complexes. This result opens a new angle for understanding the reorganization of lipids during membrane fusion, since similar complexes could fill the troubling hydrophobic voids displayed in the current models. The unique tribological properties described here may also find application in the development of novel nanolubricants.