Bending constants of surfactant layers

Bending elasticity is a crucial parameter for our understanding of the structures and phase sequences in surfactant systems. Theoretical models that stress in particular the interfacial aspect of such systems help us to understand and rationalize these systems of monolayers or bilayers. Considerable advances have been made, from both a theoretical and an experimental point of view, in relating the bending moduli to molecular parameters of amphophilic systems. Recent systematic experimental studies have allowed us to obtain a more comprehensive picture of the dependencies of the bending parameters on the molecular composition of the corresponding surfactant films.