Hexagonal phase

Hexagonal phase

A hexagonal phase of lyotropic liquid crystal is formed by some amphiphilic molecules when they are mixed with water or another polar solvent. In this phase the amphiphile molecules are aggregated into cylindrical structures of indefinite length and these cylindrical aggregates are disposed on a hexagonal lattice, giving the phase long-range orientational order.

In normal topology hexagonal phases, which are formed by type I amphiphiles, the hydrocarbon chains are contained within the cylindrical aggregates such that the polar-apolar interface has a positive mean curvature. Inverse topology hexagonal phases have water within the cylindrical aggregates and the hydrocarbon chains fill the voids between the hexagonally packed cylinders. Normal topology hexagonal phases are denoted by HI while inverse topology hexagonal phases are deonted by HII. When viewed under a polarising microscope thin films of both normal and inverse topology hexagonal phases exhibit birefringence, giving rise to characteristic optical textures. Typically these textures are smoke-like, fan-like or mosaic in appearance. The phases are highly viscous and small air bubbles trapped within the preparation have highly distored shapes.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Phase Change Random Access Memory — Phase change RAM (Abk.: PCRAM oder PRAM, in einer speziellen Ausführung auch Ovonics Unified Memory / OUM oder chalcogenide RAM / C RAM) ist ein neuartiger nicht flüchtiger Speicher in der Elektronik. Das Wirkprinzip des Speichers ist die… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Phase-change random access memory — (Abk.: PCRAM oder PRAM, in einer speziellen Ausführung auch „Ovonics Unified Memory“, OUM, oder „chalcogenide RAM“, C RAM) ist ein neuartiger nicht flüchtiger Speicher in der Elektronik (Stand 2009). Das Wirkprinzip des Speichers ist die Änderung …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Phase (matter) — In the physical sciences, a phase is a region of space (a thermodynamic system), throughout which all physical properties of a material are essentially uniform.[1] Examples of physical properties include density, index of refraction, and chemical …   Wikipedia

  • Nowotny phase — A Nowotny chimney ladder phase (NCL phase) in inorganic chemistry is a particular intermetallic crystal structure found with certain binary compounds. NLC phases are generally tetragonal and are composed of two separate sublattices. The first is… …   Wikipedia

  • Columnar phase — The columnar phase is a class of mesophases in which molecules assemble into cylindrical structures to act as mesogens. Originally, these kinds of liquid crystals were called discotic liquid crystals because the columnar structures are composed… …   Wikipedia

  • Liquid crystal — Schlieren texture of liquid crystal nematic phase Liquid crystals (LCs) are a state of matter that have properties between those of a conventional liquid and those of a solid crystal.[1] For instance, an LC may flow like a liquid, but its… …   Wikipedia

  • Crystal structure of boron-rich metal borides — Two single crystals of YB66 (1 cm diameter) grown by floating zone technique using (100) oriented seeds. In the top crystal, the seed (left from the black line) has same diameter as the crystal. In the bottom crystal (sliced), the seed is much… …   Wikipedia

  • Surface reconstruction — refers to the process by which atoms at the surface of a crystal assume a different structure than that of the bulk. Surface reconstructions are important in that they help in the understanding of surface chemistry for various materials,… …   Wikipedia

  • Lyotropic liquid crystal — A liquid crystalline material is called lyotropic if phases having long ranged orientational order are induced by the addition of a solvent. Historically the term was used to describe materials composed of amphiphilic molecules. Such molecules… …   Wikipedia

  • Compounds of berkelium — Berkelium(IV) oxide Berkelium forms a number of chemical compounds where it normally exists in an oxidation state of +3 or +4 and behaves similarly to its lanthanide analogue, terbium. Contents …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”