Arresting amphiphilic self-assembly

Amphiphilic self-assembly has become the basis for a wide gamut of materials and commercial product applications. In many situations however, the best use of self-assembling complex fluids comes when their microstructures can be made permanent. The impetus for a static microstructure can often be such that an alternative non-aqueous media is preferable. Highlighted here is a new approach to capturing self-assembly through replacement of water in traditional complex fluids with sugars to form room temperature complex glasses. Combining solid and liquid properties at the nanoscale, complex glasses have broad potential applications in encapsulation and materials template synthesis.