Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 2, 2026

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Hexagonal closest-packed spheres liquid crystalline phases stabilised by strongly hydrated counterions
1School of Chemistry F11, The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006 Australia. gregory.warr@sydney.edu.au.
Abstract:
The sequence and structure of lyotropic liquid crystals formed in C12-C16 alkyltrimethylammonium surfactants with hydrolysable and multivalent phosphate (PO4(3-), HPO4(2-) and H2PO4(-)), oxalate (HC2O4(-) and C2O4(2-)), and carbonate (HCO3(-)/CO3(2-)) counterions were determined using a concentration gradient method coupled with polarising optical microscopy and small angle X-ray scattering. In addition to the discrete cubic (I1, space group Pm3n) and hexagonal (H1, p6m) phases, almost all of these surfactants also formed the (previously) rare hexagonally closest-packed spheres (HCPS, P63/mmc) phase at compositions between the Pm3n cubic and L1 micellar phases. This structure has not been previously observed in cationic surfactants, but is readily achieved by using strongly hydrated counterions to stabilise spherical micelles at high concentrations.
More Related Videos
06:35Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
09:47Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
Related Concept Videos
Ionic Crystal Structures
Most monatomic ions behave as charged spheres, and their attraction for ions of opposite charge is the same in every direction. Consequently, stable structures for ionic compounds result (1) when ions of one charge are surrounded by as many ions as possible of the opposite...
Metallic Solids
All metallic solids exhibit high thermal and electrical conductivity, metallic luster, and...
Structures of Solids
Unit Cells
Lattice Centering and Coordination Number
Types of Unit Cells
Imagine taking a large number of identical...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than...