Xu Ruiyan, Liu Tan, Sun Huilou, Wang Beibei, Shi Shaowei, Russell Thomas P
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Apr 15;12(15):18116-18122. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c00577. Epub 2020 Mar 6.
Nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) assembled at the oil-water interface can significantly lower the interfacial tension and be used to structure liquids. However, to realize the three-dimensional printing of one liquid in another, high-viscosity liquids, for example, silicone oil, have been generally used. Here, we present a simple, low-cost approach to print water in low-viscosity toluene by using a new type of polyelectrolyte surfactant, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose surfactant (CMCS), that forms and assembles at the oil-water interface. The interfacial activity of CMCSs can be enhanced by tuning parameters, such as pH and concentration, and the incorporation of a rigid ligand affords excellent mechanical strength to the resultant assemblies. With CMCS jammed at the interface, liquids can be easily printed or molded to the desired shapes, with biocompatible walls that can be used to encapsulate and adsorb active materials. This study opens a new pathway to generate complex, all-liquid devices with a myriad of potential applications in biology, catalysis, and chemical separation.
组装在油水界面的纳米颗粒表面活性剂（NPSs）可以显著降低界面张力，并用于构建液体结构。然而，为了实现一种液体在另一种液体中的三维打印，通常使用高粘度液体，例如硅油。在此，我们提出了一种简单、低成本的方法，通过使用一种新型聚电解质表面活性剂——羧甲基纤维素钠表面活性剂（CMCS），在低粘度甲苯中打印水。CMCS在油水界面形成并组装。通过调节pH值和浓度等参数，可以增强CMCS的界面活性，并且加入刚性配体可使所得组装体具有优异的机械强度。由于CMCS卡在界面处，液体可以轻松打印或模制成所需形状，其具有生物相容性壁，可用于封装和吸附活性材料。这项研究开辟了一条新途径，可用于制造复杂的全液体装置，在生物学、催化和化学分离等领域具有众多潜在应用。
