Amphiphilic molecules with a structured head on a water surface: a Monte Carlo simulation

Abstract

Langmuir films are formed by amphiphilic molecules. These molecules consist of a more or less structured head and one or more tails of different length. The hydrophilic heads are strongly attracted by the water surface, whereas the hydrophobic tails can move in the upper half space. We have carried out athermal MC simulations on a simple cubic lattice using periodic boundary conditions in x- and y-direction.