"This image shows Pluronic F68 surfactant with interspersed polybutylcyanoacrylate (PBCA) nanoparticles, pipetted onto silicon substrate. It is a result of an experimental mistake. After spinning down the solution in a centrifuge, instead of keeping the pellet with PBCA nanoparticles at the bottom, we disposed it and kept the supernatant, or the remaining solution from the top. It contained excessive surfactant and very few nanoparticles. So we “threw out the baby with the bathwater,” but we got the amazing image. Science should not be presumptive – you never know where you will find something interesting. The image was taken using tapping mode Atomic Force Miscroscopy, scan size is 50X50 µm, with a Veeco Dimension 3100 instrument."
