Curvature elasticity of thin films

Abstract

A tutorial review of the theory of curvature elasticity of thin films is presented with an emphasis on the physical origins of the bending energy. We begin with a discussion of surface curvature and focus on the role of special surfaces of curvature to show how such surfaces can be defined to eliminate either the coupling of the compressibility and bending terms (neutral surface) or the saddle-splay (Gaussian curvature) modulus. Next, we consider phenomenological models for curvature elasticity and discuss the coupling of the curvature degrees of freedom with other properties of the system such as the packing area and the number of molecules at the interface. The pressure distribution in the film is related to the bending moduli. We then connect the elastic moduli to the physical properties of both solid and liquid thin films with a detailed discussion of the role of solid elasticity (including defects), electrostatic interactions (applicable to polar head groups and chain packing (using a block copolymer model of amphiphilic molecules). Finally, we demonstrate the effects of fluctuations and inhomogeneities in these systems in a discussion of the role of thermal undulations in renormalizing the bending moduli and of mixtures of amphiphiles of different chain lengths in fluid films. The article is concluded with a brief review of experimental characterizations of curvature elasticity in self-assembling systems.