Shape-designable liquid marbles were simply prepared by rolling the water droplets over the stearic acid powder for several seconds to encapsulate them. The effects of droplet volume, pH, and rolling time on the deformability of liquid marbles from sphere were investigated. The stearic acid-stabilized liquid marbles can be deformed to any desirable and stable shapes including ellipsoids and letters, thanks to the gel layer formed at liquid marble surfaces during the preparation. The gel layer works as a flexible and plastic membrane, which makes the liquid marbles irreversibly deformable. Finally, the applications of the liquid marbles as a microreactor were demonstrated.
Sulfur-stabilized liquid marbles were readily prepared by rolling water droplets on a sulfur (S 8 ) powder bed. Because of the construction of a gel layer on the surface of liquid marbles, the resulting liquid marbles have shape-designable characteristics. The effects of rolling time and volume of droplets on the deformability of sulfur-stabilized liquid marbles were investigated along with their mechanical stability and lifetime. The capability of sulfur-stabilized liquid marbles to be deformed at different pH values enables these liquid marbles to act as microreservoirs with desired shapes for aqueous solutions. Immersing the sulfur-stabilized liquid marbles into organic liquids leads to an increase in the liquid marbles' lifetime, and thereby they can survive at the interface of aqueous−organic two-phased systems for a long time. Finally, the applications of sulfur-stabilized liquid marbles as photocatalytic microreactors, electrochemical microcells, and monodisperse Pickering-like emulsions were demonstrated.
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