Studies on the infrared and far-infrared spectra of water in lyotropic liquidcrystalline phases of dodecyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (and related materials) have shown the existence of at least two severely perturbed types of water molecule -both very different from bulk water. Band shifts, half-widths and relative intensities change rapidly over the concentration range, but show no discontinuities at phase boundaries (including the gel/lamellar boundary). The water molecules therefore probe only the short-range interactions between head group and counterion and do not reflect changes in long-range micellar interactions in the different mesophases. These data support the equilibrium binding model for water-surfactant interactions at polar organic interfaces and tend to refute the existence of different polarized layers. As such, they may eventually help to cast light on the nature of hydration forces between the bilayers in lamellar phases.
IntroductionThe binding of water at polar charged organic interfaces has been a topic of considerable interest among surface chemists, spectroscopists and biochemists (and biophysicists) for the past 20 years. The state or structure of water in ordered phases (micelles, mesophases, microemulsions) has been perceived to be important: for example, for the stabilization of the bilayer structures (lamellar phases) from which biomembranes are formed [l-111 and for the adhesion [8] and fusion [7] of such membranes. Accordingly, there have been a range of spectroscopic measurements aimed at distinguishing biological (i.e. perturbed or bound) water from bulk water. The most extensive studies have been made using N.M.R. techniques, notably *H and "0 quadrupolar splitting [12-221 and 'H, 'H, "0 nuclear relaxation times [15][16][17][18]. These have been employed to monitor the ordering and motional freedom of the water molecules at organic interfaces, through the well-known order and relaxation parameters [I 8, 191. However, there have also been microwave (dielectric) [3 1-35], far-infrared [3&38], mid-infrared [39-541 and Raman [55] spectroscopic measurements aimed at finding structural and motional changes caused by water molecules interacting at either.head group or counterion (or both). It is clear from the literature that the interpretation of such spectra is far from straightforward or conclusive and often different models will apparently fit the same data. Certainly, a consensus of opinion on the crucial question as to whether water molecules in mesophases form perturbed and distinct layers [lo, 111, or whether there is simply an equilibrium