Issue 6, 2010
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Assembly and disassembly of tubular spherulites

Karan Tamhane,a   Xuejun Zhang,a   Jianhua Zoua  and  Jiyu Fang*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA
E-mail: jfang@mail.ucf.edu
Fax: +1 407 882 1462
Tel: +1 407 882 1182

Abstract

We report a higher-order assembly of lithocholic acid (LCA) into spherulites composed of a large number of well-defined tubules in aqueous solution at physiological pH of 7.5. Under a polarizing optical microscope, the tubular spherulites show a Maltese-cross extinction pattern. The disassembly of tubular spherulites by brief sonication leads to the formation of a large quantity of well-dispersed straight tubules with a crystalline wall and a narrow diameter distribution. We find that the tubules, which are organized in spherulites and dispersed in solution, show a pH-switchable shape transition.

Graphical abstract: Assembly and disassembly of tubular spherulites

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B915183D
Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Jul 2009
Accepted
07 Dec 2009
First published
06 Jan 2010

Soft Matter, 2010,6, 1224-1228

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Assembly and disassembly of tubular spherulites

K. Tamhane, X. Zhang, J. Zou and J. Fang, Soft Matter, 2010, 6, 1224 DOI: 10.1039/B915183D

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