Fig. 2: Structure and chemical composition analysis of aqueous F127 micelles.
a Simultaneous fit (black) of RSoXS profiles at selected photon energies revealing structural statistics. Uncertainties from counting statistics. Inset is schematic of the F127 micelle structure, molecular composition, and packing based on the fit results. See Methods for details. b Comparison of theoretical and measured contrast values from the structural fits for chemical analysis. C:Sh is the contrast between the core and shell of the micelle, while Sh:Sol is the contrast between the shell and solvent (H2O). Uncertainties, represented by vertical lines, are described in detail in the Supplementary information. c Statistical distribution of core radii from fit results translated into number of aggregated chains within each particle, assuming a pure PPO core. d Rendering of the final micelle structures based on molecular dynamics simulations showing the pink PPO segments concentrated in the core while the blue PEO segments makeup a hydrated shell. Water molecules are not shown for clarity. The triblock nature of the molecules (PEO-PPO-PEO) is demonstrated by highlighting a single molecule as yellow.
