tactoid Physical Chem.
(ˈtæktɔɪd)
Also † taktoid.
[a. G. taktoid (Zocher & Jacobsohn 1929, in Kolloidchem. Beihefte XXVIII. 167), f. Gr. τακτ-ός ordered (see tactic a.1): see -oid.]
A small anistropic, birefringent region in a dilute, isotropic sol, consisting of an aggregate of rod-like particles or macromolecules aligned parallel to one another.
| 1929 Chem. Abstr. XXIII. 2868 In these taktosols..the individual microscopic particles are called taktoids. 1939 Nature 14 Jan. 82/1 The formation of tactoids from thixotropic sols,..and the crystallization of proteins are regarded as being typical of unipolar coacervation. 1952 J. T. G. Overbeek in H. R. Kruyt Colloid Sci. I. viii. 327 The concentrated phase in the tactoids still contains a great deal of dispersion medium which implies that the particles are comparatively far apart. 1953 S. E. Luria Gen. Virol. v. 94 In the liquid phase, the rod-shaped [virus] particles orient themselves sidewise into ‘tactoids’ which then settle into the liquid crystalline phase. 1978 Nature 14 Dec. 666/3 Minton has applied fundamental models for the entropically driven formation of tactoids from long rod-like molecules or particles to the haemoglobin S system. |
So ˈtactosol [ad. G. taktosol (Zocher & Jacobsohn, loc. cit.)], a sol containing tactoids.
| 1929 [see tactoid]. 1959 Lancet 3 Oct. 513/1 Tactosols are colloidal solutions containing non-spherical particles (‘tactoids’) which are capable of orienting themselves. |