Morphology definition by disclinations and dislocations in a mesostructured silicate crystal

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Abstract
Curved surface morphologies resulting from disclinations are unusual in inorganic phases because the relatively large lattice energies generally permit only translational dislocations. In this letter, we show, however, that disclinations can be readily observed and identified in composite organic/inorganic phases. Disclinations and dislocations in MCM-41, a two-dimensional hexagonal (p6mm) mesophase crystal synthesized using silicate and surfactant precursors, were investigated by using transmission electron microscopy. We observed two types of dislocations and two types of disclinations. All dislocations observed are of the smallest Burgers vector a (the basis vector). Dislocation dipoles and disclination quadrupoles appear more frequently than isolated ones.