Cryo-Ultramicrotomy of Complex Molecular Fluids

Complex molecular fluids (CMFs, e.g., liquid crystals, crude oil, and detergents) have tremendous impacts on the modern world, but the detailed understanding of CMF behaviors at the molecular level is often surprisingly limited. This can be attributed to their complicated structure and the lack of effective nanoscale structural probes for CMFs in general. In this paper, we summarize our recent effort to apply cryo-ultramicrotomy to cryo-TEM studies of a representative and challenging CMF groupliquid crystals (LCs). Our results show that cryo-ultramicrotomy can be used as a reliable specimen preparation technique allowing subnanometer resolution direct imaging of CMFs in general. We also discuss on the advantages and disadvantages of the technique based on comparative studies using different techniques including thin film plunge freezing and replica techniques.