Understanding the Dynamics of a Lipid Monolayer on a Water Surface under a Marangoni Flow

Abstract

Biological membrane is composed of lipid molecules, because of its fluidity, it is possible to carry out physiological functions. Therefore, it is important to study the hydrodynamic properties of membranes toward understanding its function. Here, we observed the dynamical behavior of a lipid monolayer on the water surface under Marangoni flow. By using X-ray reflectometry, we obtained the tilt angle of the hydrocarbon chains of the lipid at different surface pressures. Comparing them with the dynamical surface pressure under Marangoni flow, it was found that the lipid molecules in rotational rather than translational motion. At low surface pressure, the molecular tilt angle is reduced by 20 degrees, even though the molecular area is reduced by at most 10%.

Keywords

• Marangoni flow
• spontaneous oscillation of surface tension
• air-water interface
• X-ray reflectivity
• lipid monolayer
• DSPC