Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026
Sample Preparation using a Lipid Monolayer Method for Electron Crystallographic Studies
Published on: November 20, 2021
Experimental Evidence for Proposed Transformation Pathway from the Inverse Hexagonal to Inverse Diamond Cubic Phase
Adam M Squires1, Samina Akbar1, Marissa E Tousley2
1†Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Whiteknights Campus, Reading, U.K. RG6 6AD.
Abstract:
A macroscopically oriented inverse hexagonal phase (HII) of the lipid phytantriol in water is converted to an oriented inverse double diamond bicontinuous cubic phase (QII(D)). The initial HII phase is uniaxially oriented about the long axis of a capillary with the cylinders parallel to the capillary axis. The HII phase is converted by cooling to a QII(D) phase which is also highly oriented, where the cylindrical axis of the former phase has been converted to a ⟨110⟩ axis in the latter, as demonstrated by small-angle X-ray scattering. This epitaxial relationship allows us to discriminate between two competing proposed geometric pathways to convert HII to QII(D). Our findings also suggest a new route to highly oriented cubic phase coatings, with applications as nanomaterial templates.
