CRYO-TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY OF AMPHIPHILIC MONOLAYERS OF C31H63OH DEPOSITED ON HOLEY GRIDS

Monolayers of the long-chain alcohol C31H63OH were spread over a water surface and deposited onto plastic holey grids. The water substrate w as then vitrified by fast freezing in liquid ethane, and the samples o btained were studied by cryo-Transmission electron microscopy. Electro n images and diffraction patterns, indicative of two-dimensional cryst alline self-assembly, are discussed. Morphological features of the mon olayer films were also obtained. The method should be of importance fo r the study of the structure of membranes, Langmuir-Blodgett films, an d nucleation processes of two- and three-dimensional crystals.