Fluid-bicontinuous emulsions stabilized by colloidal particles

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the creation of fluid-bicontinuous structures stabilized by colloidal particles through controlled spinodal decomposition, revealing their potential as microreaction media.

Contribution

It introduces a method to produce stable fluid-bicontinuous emulsions stabilized by colloids and studies their structure and stability using confocal microscopy.

Findings

Colloidal particles form a jammed multilayer at the interface.

The bicontinuous structure remains stable for hours.

Potential application as microreaction media.

Abstract

Using controlled spinodal decomposition, we have created a fluid-bicontinuous structure stabilized by colloidal particles. We present confocal microscopy studies of these structures and their variation with kinetic pathway. Our studies reveal a rigid multilayer of colloidal particles jammed at the interface which prevents the liquids demixing for many hours. The arrangement of two-fluid domains, interpenetrating on the meso-scale, could be useful as a microreaction medium.