Title
Freeze Fracture Direct Imaging of a Viscous Surfactant Mesophase
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-6-2004
Abstract
Freeze fracture direct imaging (FFDI) has been used to image microstructures present in a highly viscous four-component mesophase containing water, isooctane, AOT [bis(2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate], and lecithin. As water is added to a fixed amount of a ternary solution of isooctane and the two surfactants, the microstructure evolves from a water-in-oil microemulsion, to a highly viscous columnar hexagonal, and then to multilamellar vesicles. Each of these microstructures is imaged directly. Previous small-angle neutron scattering measurements have identified the lamellar phase, but the FFDI technique demonstrates that these are onionlike curved multilamellar structures rather than planar bilayers. Freeze fracture direct imaging expands the range of cryo-transmission microscopy to highly viscous, high-organic-content systems that typically have been difficult to visualize.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Langmuir
Volume
20
Issue
1
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Agarwal, Vivek, Mohit Singh, Gary McPherson, Vijay John, and Arijit Bose. "Freeze Fracture Direct Imaging of a Viscous Surfactant Mesophase." Langmuir 20, 1 (2004): 11-15. doi: 10.1021/la035375n.