Layered structures, chromonics

A simple view of the state of a chromonic system is that the molecules are effectively insoluble in one dimension. The energy involved in their aggregation is more or less comparable to kT for each aromatic ring and only at extremely low dilution are there individual, unaggregated molecules. For ionic systems, the columns attract counterions, forming electrical double layers. This results in column-column repulsion, which causes the columns to behave as if they were separated by compressed springs. This effect presumably stabilizes the hexagonal structure of the M phase and causes the columns to move apart equally when the mesophase is diluted. 

---