Electron Diffraction and Imaging of Uncompressed Monolayers of Amphiphilic Molecules on Vitreous and Hexagonal Ice

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Abstract
A new approach is described for probing domains of ordered self-assemblies of amphiphilic monolayers at the aqueous solution interface. The method has potential importance for the study of membrane structure, Langmuir-Blodgett films, and nucleation processes of two-and three-dimensional crystals. Electron diffraction (ED) patterns indicative of two-dimensional crystalline self-assembly were obtained from samples, which were examined by cryo-electron microscopy, of monolayers of water-insoluble amphiphiles on vitrified aqueous substrates. The apparent hexagonal symmetry of an ED pattern from a C 16 H 33 OH monolayer was interpreted in terms of multiple twinning. Monolayers of the CL 31 H 63 OH and cadmium salt of C 19 H 39 CO 2 H that were studied by dark-field techniques displayed faceted two-dimensional crystallites with a maximal size of 1 to 2 micrometers. Epitaxial nucleation of hexagonal ice by the C 31 H 63 OH monolayer has also been demonstrated by ED.