Comparison of self-assembly in lattice and off-lattice model amphiphile solutions

Lattice Monte Carlo and off-lattice molecular dynamics simulations of h1t4 and h4t1 (head/tail) amphiphile solutions have been performed as a function of surfactant concentration and temperature. The lattice and off-lattice systems exhibit quite different self-assembly behavior at equivalent thermodynamic conditions. We found that in the weakly aggregating regime (no preferred-size micelles), all models yield similar micelle size distributions at the same average aggregation number, albeit at different thermodynamic conditions (temperatures).