Gemini-induced columnar jointing in vitreous ice. Cryo-HRSEM as a tool for discovering new colloidal morphologies |
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Authors: | Menger Fredric M Zhang Hong Caran Kevin L Seredyuk Victor A Apkarian Robert P |
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Affiliation: | Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. |
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Abstract: | A gemini surfactant is able to promote columnar jointing in vitreous ice where long pillars, often of hexagonal cross section, are formed. This jointing is visible by cryo-high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (cryo-HRSEM), in which colloidal suspensions in bulk water are cooled rapidly in liquid ethane, thereby avoiding the potential artifacts with other types of EM. The jointing is proposed to arise from a new type of colloidal morphology where the surfactant self-assembles into hexagonal columns. Evidence for this mechanism comes from a cryo-HRSEM photo of an ice-free hexagonal "skeleton" composed of surfactant. Cryo-HRSEM, a method that is just beginning to realize its potential, would seem to have a promising future in the discovery of additional and as yet unimagined colloidal structures. |
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