Molecular Surfactant Self-Assembly

We imaged the dynamic self-assembly at the solid–liquid interface with our new NTEGRA microscope for the first time.

Each of the diagonal lines shown in the image has a diameter of about 5 nm only and represents a hemi-cylindrical micelle comprised of CTAB surfactant molecules (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide). The vertical topography modulations have an amplitude of about 2 Å only (0.2 nm). Nevertheless, the image a features a comparatively much lower noise level.
The experiment was carried out in a liquid cell on a HOPG (graphite) substrate.