Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide on the lamellar phase of a zwitterionic surfactant

We study the effect of dimethyl sulfoxide, a solvent used in biological applications, on the lamellar phases of a zwitterionic surfactant. We used solutions with different proportions of dimethyl sulfoxide/water as solvents in order to analyze the effect on the lamellar phases (regular stacks of surfactant bilayers). The samples were analyzed by macroscopic visual observation, polarized light microscopy, linear rheology, and electron microscopy experiments. The results show that the variation of the dimethyl sulfoxide proportion in the solvent increases the curvature of the bilayers which leads to a transformation from a lamellar phase to an isotropic phase.