Mechanical properties interfacial area state

Influence of Interfacial Area State on Mechanical Properties... 

Note that the symbol d is used for the differential of a state function or state variable whereas 5 just indicates an infinitesimally small amount of a quantity that is dependent on the path taken). For w and, hence, Sw, various types of work may be considered, such as mechanical work resulting from compression or expansion of the system, electrical work, interfacial work associated with expanding or reducing the interfacial area between two phases, and chemical work due to the exchange of matter between the system and environment. All types of work are expressed as dT, where X and Y are state variables. X is an intensive property (independent of the... 

Intrinsically, d is not equal to the hydrophobic thickness of the bilayer h. It is related to the distance spanning between the neutral surfaces close to the interfacial regions. It is very close to r long enough lipid molecules. As for saturated PCs the molecular area seems to be almost independent of die chain length in the fluid state [11], a linear increase of with was obtained (Figure 4b). It can be noted that such a simple scale dependence of as a function of the membrane thickness is the first clear evidence that mechanical properties are closely related to the molecular dimensions. 

---