DIRECT IMAGING OF LAMELLAR PHASES BY CRYO-TRANSMISSION ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

We present the first direct imaging of swollen lamellar phases by tran smission electron microscopy on thin vitrified liquid films. We were a ble to obtain good contrast of the surfactant membranes. The micrograp hs allow the description of the microstructure of the phases and demon strate the differences between electrostatically and sterically stabil ized lamellar phases: the first ones consist of rigid and well-ordered membranes whereas the latter consist of soft and fluctuating membrane s.