Figure 2.

(A) The mesophases of LLC: i, lamellar phase; ii, hexagonal phase; iii, micellar cubic phase – bcc; iv, micellar cubic phase – fcc (different colors represent the three-dimensional arrangement of the same molecules present in the micellar cubic phases); v, primitive bicontinuous cubic phase; vi, double diamond bicontinuous cubic phase; vii, gyroid bicontinuous cubic phase. (B) Schematic of self-assembly structures corresponding to CPP values. P stands for CPP values. V is the hydrophobic tail volume, a is the hydrophilic head group area and l is the hydrophobic tail length. (C) Possible localization of drugs in the following: i, reverse hexagonal phase; ii, reverse bicontinuous cubic phase (double diamond); iii, reverse bicontinuous cubic phase (primitive).

Abbreviations: bcc, body-centered cubic; CPP, critical packing parameter; fcc, face-centered cubic; LLC, lyotropic liquid crystal.