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Binary mixtures of amphiphiles in solution can self-assemble into a widerange of structures when the two species individually form aggregates ofdifferent curvatures. A specific example of this is seen in solutions of lipidmixtures where the two species form lamellar structures and spherical micellesrespectively. Here, vesicles connected by thread-like micelles can form in anarrow concentration range of the sphere-forming lipid. We present aself-consistent field theory (SCFT) study of these structures. Firstly, we showthat the addition of sphere-forming lipid to a solution of lamella-former canlower the free energy of cylindrical, thread-like micelles and hence encouragetheir formation. Next, we demonstrate the coupling between composition andcurvature; specifically, that increasing the concentration of sphere-former ina system of two bilayers connected by a thread leads to a transfer ofamphiphile to the thread. We further show that the two species are segregatedwithin the structure, with the concentration of sphere-former beingsignificantly higher in the thread. Finally, the addition of larger amounts ofsphere-former is found to destabilize the junctions linking the bilayers to thecylindrical micelle, leading to a breakdown of the connected structures. Thedegree of segregation of the amphiphiles and the amount of sphere-formerrequired to destabilize the junctions is shown to be sensitive to the length ofthe hydrophilic block of the sphere-forming amphiphiles.

Bilayers in amphiphilic mixtures connected by threadlike micelles: a self-consistent field theory study