Ultrasonic Irradiation of Some Phospholipid Sols

Abstract

Ultrasonic irradiation of turbid sols of egg lecithin and of highly unsaturated synthetic lecithins, breaks down the large particles in the sols into micelles of micellar weight of about 5 × 106. The irradiated sols are clear and do not show any great increase of turbidity over a period of several days; they are capable of solubilising large quantities of cholesterol. The size and shape of micelles in the irradiated sols has been studied by means of viscosity and diffusion measurements and by determination of sedimentation coefficients in the ultra-centrifuge.