Figure 6. Determination of fatty acid aggregate size in Hepes-buffered isotonic saline solution containing divalent cations.

Dodecanoic acid (A), 3-hydroxydodecanoic acid (B; continuous line) and ethyl-keto dodecanoic acid (B; dashed line) were prepared as described in Methods and sonicated for 5 min. Each solution was then placed into the measuring container of an LS-230 laser diffraction instrument and the diffraction pattern of light measured for 30 s. The particle diameter is shown on the abscissa. The ordinate represents an arbitrary number derived from an optical model fit of the diffracted light detected by each sensor in the instrument. Each measurement was performed in triplicate.