2008/02/20 by P. S. Clegg, P S Clegg
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Block Copolymer Self-Assembly #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Surfactants and Colloidal Systems #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0953-8984/20/11/113101
published as J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20 (2008) 113101 · Topical Review, 17 pages, 10 figures
openalex publication_date 2008/02/20 · arxiv created 2008/02/22 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Carefully tuned composite materials can have properties wholly unlike those of their separate constituents. We review the development of one example: colloid-stabilized emulsions with bicontinuous liquid domains. These non-equilibrium structures resemble the sponge mesophase of surfactants; however, in the colloid-stabilized case the interface separating the liquid domains is itself semi-solid. The arrangement of domains is created by arresting liquid-liquid phase separation via spinodal decomposition. Dispersed colloids exhibiting partial wettability become trapped on the newly created interface and jam together as the domains coarsen. Similar structures have been created in polymer blends stabilized using either interfacial nanoparticles or clay platelets. Here it has been possible to create the domain arrangement either by phase separation or by direct mixing of the melt. The low molecular weight liquid and polymer based structures have been developed independently and much can be learnt by comparing the two.