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Microbubble Fabrication of Concave-porosity PDMS Beads
Published on: December 15, 2015
Droplet-templating soft materials into structured bead-based aerogels with compartmentalized or welded configurations
Shayan Ghasemi1, Mahyar Panahi-Sarmad2,3, Elnaz Erfanian1,3
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada. Milad.kamkar@uwaterloo.ca.
Abstract:
Achieving precise control over the composition and architecture of nanomaterial-based aerogels remains a significant challenge. Here, we introduce a droplet-templating approach to engineer ultra-lightweight aerogels via the interfacial co-assembly of nanoparticles-surfactants (NPSs) at polar/apolar liquid interfaces. This approach enables the creation of aerogels with tailored compartmentalized or welded bead architectures, exhibiting multilayer, gradient, and hybrid morphologies from a range of 1D and 2D nanomaterials. By precisely controlling evaporation and freeze-drying processes, we fabricate aerogels with customizable micro-domains, without requiring chemical binders. Our approach provides a platform for developing soft materials with tunable properties, paving a new path for applications in soft matter and aerogel engineering.
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