4. Optimal, reactive foam with fatty acids

4.1 Special supramolecular assembly: 12-hydroxystearic fatty acid tubes

It has recently been shown that a particular fatty acid, 12-hydroxystearic fatty acid derived from the hydrogenation of castor oil, assembles in aqueous solution in the form of tubes when hexanolamine is used as a counterion to disperse it. Surfactant molecules capable of generating this type of tubular assembly have the particularity of possessing a center of chirality. In fact, a tube is formed by a curved flat membrane that has been folded. Within the membrane, the molecules are in contact with each other. The chirality of one molecule influences the position of the neighboring molecule by turning it through a certain angle. The angle formed from close to close generates a torsion within the membrane, resulting...