Controlling Bicontinuous Structures through a Solvent Segregation-Driven Gel

Xi, Yuyin; Leão, Juscelino B.; Ye, Qiang; Lankone, Ronald S.; Sung, Li‐Piin

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.0c03472

Cited by 8 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Nanoparticles dispersed in a binary solvent can thermo-reversibly assemble into solid bicontinuous structures by forming solvent segregation-driven gel (SeedGel) in a scalable, reproducible, and tunable manner 27 , 28 . Different from bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (Bijels), where particles have neutral wettability for both components in a binary solvent, particles in SeedGel favor one component of a binary solvent that results in gels consisting of alternating micrometer-sized bicontinuous domains: the particle domain and the solvent domain.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finely tunable dynamical coloration using bicontinuous micrometer-domains

Zhang

et al. 2022

Nat Commun

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nanostructures similar to those found in the vividly blue wings of Morpho butterflies and colorful photonic crystals enable structural color through constructive interference of light waves. Different from commonly studied structure-colored materials using periodic structures to manipulate optical properties, we report a previously unrecognized approach to precisely control the structural color and light transmission via a novel photonic colloidal gel without long-range order. Nanoparticles in this gel form micrometer-sized bicontinuous domains driven by the microphase separation of binary solvents. This approach enables dynamic coloration with a precise wavelength selectivity over a broad range of wavelengths extended well beyond the visible light that is not achievable with traditional methods. The dynamic wavelength selectivity is thermally tunable, reversible, and the material fabrication is easily scalable.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Finely tunable dynamical coloration using bicontinuous micrometer-domains

Zhang

et al. 2022

Nat Commun

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similar behavior was observed for the aggregates of micelles of block-copolymers [ 63 ]. A strong upturn of the scattered intensity at low q (slope > 3) has been reported for various micro-heterogeneous systems as, for instance, polymer melts [ 64 ], percolated nanoemulsion colloidal gels [ 65 ], and bi-continuous nanoparticle gels obtained by solvent segregation [ 66 , 67 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dual Transient Networks of Polymer and Micellar Chains: Structure and Viscoelastic Synergy

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Dual transient networks were prepared by mixing highly charged long wormlike micelles of surfactants with polysaccharide chains of hydroxypropyl guar above the entanglement concentration for each of the components. The wormlike micelles were composed of two oppositely charged surfactants potassium oleate and n-octyltrimethylammonium bromide with a large excess of anionic surfactant. The system is macroscopically homogeneous over a wide range of polymer and surfactant concentrations, which is attributed to a stabilizing effect of surfactants counterions that try to occupy as much volume as possible in order to gain in translational entropy. At the same time, by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) combined with ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (USANS), a microphase separation with the formation of polymer-rich and surfactant-rich domains was detected. Rheological studies in the linear viscoelastic regime revealed a synergistic 180-fold enhancement of viscosity and 65-fold increase of the longest relaxation time in comparison with the individual components. This effect was attributed to the local increase in concentration of both components trying to avoid contact with each other, which makes the micelles longer and increases the number of intermicellar and interpolymer entanglements. The enhanced rheological properties of this novel system based on industrially important polymer hold great potential for applications in personal care products, oil recovery and many other fields.

show abstract

“…With increasing polymer concentration, the scattering at low q increases. Strong upturn of the scattered intensity at low q (slope > 3) has been reported for micro-heterogeneous systems as, for instance, polymer melts [59], percolated nanoemulsion colloidal gels [60] and bicontinuous nanoparticle gels obtained by solvent segregation [61,62]. In the later system, only the nanoparticlerich phase is expected to contribute to the viscoelastic behavior.…”

Section: Effect Of Polymer Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 88%