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    Symbiosis between the components of a soft composite material responding to osmotic shock: The case of three-liquid systems

    Year: 2022

    Journal: J. Colloid Interface Sci., Volume 608, FEB 15, page 1135–1140

    Authors: Chen, Wei; Clegg, Paul; Li, Tao

    Organizations: Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [11904390]; Scientific Research Starting Foundation from Wenzhou Institute, UCAS [WIUCASQD2020003]

    Keywords: Osmotic; HIPEs; Three-liquid systems; Liquid -liquid interface; SDS

    Hypothesis: For conventional high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) with an external osmotic pressure greater than Laplace pressure, once the osmotic balance is broken, the swelling or shrinking of the aque-ous phase can easily trigger phase separation. Mixing two immiscible dispersed phases in a double HIPE can evolve differently following an osmotic shock, which is expected to create a synergistic effect that can frustrate the phase separation of the system. Experiments: Osmotic responses of double HIPEs were studied at the surface of a NaCl solution at a range of molarities. Fluorescence confocal microscopy studies were carried out to track the responses on micro-scopic scales. Measurements on surface tensions revealed the interfacial behaviors of the used surfactant. Findings: A synergistic effect is achieved by a symbiotic process between the dispersed oils, where one type of droplets become more stable and pack around the other ones to halt their coalescence. The essen-tial drive comes from the adsorption/desorption of surfactant molecules at oil-water interfaces. By directly adjusting the osmotic pressure difference, transitions between osmotic down-shock and osmotic up-shock can also be realized. This symbiosis greatly expands the potential technological applications of multiple-liquid systems, and can be used to design novel multi-functional composite materials. (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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