Preparation of Films of a Highly Aligned Lipid Cubic Phase
We demonstrate a method by which we can produce an oriented film of an inverse bicontinuous cubic phase (QII,D) formed by the lipid monoolein (MO). By starting with the lipid as a disordered precursor (the L3 phase) in the presence of butanediol, we can obtain a film of the QII,D phase showing a high degree of in-plane orientation by controlled dilution of the sample under shear within a linear fl