Observation of the Chiral and Achiral Hexatic Phases of Self-assembled Micellar polymers
We report the discovery of a thermodynamically stable line hexatic (N + 6) phase in a three-dimensional (3D) system made up of self-assembled polymer-like micelles of amphiphilic molecules. The experimentally observed phase transition sequence nematic (N)⇌N + 6⇌two-dimensional hexagonal (2D-H) is in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. Further, the present study also brings to light th
