Applications of SAXS/SANS and Cryo-TEM to Understand Self-Assembly of Surfactants

Publication date: Available online 26 February 2019Source: Current Opinion in Colloid & Interface ScienceAuthor(s): Yaxun Fan, Yilin WangAbstractThe self-assembling structures and dynamics of surfactants determine most of their macroscopic physicochemical properties and performances. Herein, we review recent work on the self-assembly of surfactants by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in conjunction with cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) from the perspective of researchers having only limited theoretical knowledge of these techniques but expert in surfactants. Emphasis is placed upon the structural analysis of typical surfactant aggregates over a wide range of size scales from nanometers up to microns, including spherical and rod-like micelles, wormlike micelles, vesicles, liquid crystals and coacervates, by combining different numerical approaches to the treatment of small-angle scattering data with the direct Cryo-TEM imaging method. Furthermore, the complementarity between SAXS and SANS, and between the scattering techniques, and Cryo-TEM, i.e., specific contributions of these techniques are also covered.Graphical abstract
Source: Current Opinion in Colloid and Interface Science - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research