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Ghaffarkhah A, Hashemi SA, Isari AA, Panahi-Sarmad M, Jiang F, Russell TP, Rojas OJ, Arjmand M. Chemistry, applications, and future prospects of structured liquids. Chem Soc Rev 2024. [PMID: 39189110 DOI: 10.1039/d4cs00549j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/28/2024]
Abstract
Structured liquids are emerging functional soft materials that combine liquid flowability with solid-like structural stability and spatial organization. Here, we delve into the chemistry and underlying principles of structured liquids, ranging from nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) to supramolecular assemblies and interfacial jamming. We then highlight recent advancements related to the design of intricate all-liquid 3D structures and examine their reconfigurability. Additionally, we demonstrate the versatility of these soft functional materials through innovative applications, such as all-liquid microfluidic devices and liquid microreactors. We envision that in the future, the vast potential of the liquid-liquid interface combined with human creativity will pave the way for innovative platforms, exemplified by current developments like liquid batteries and circuits. Although still in its nascent stages, the field of structured liquids holds immense promise, with future applications across various sectors poised to harness their transformative capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmadreza Ghaffarkhah
- Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Seyyed Alireza Hashemi
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Ali Akbar Isari
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Mahyar Panahi-Sarmad
- Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- Sustainable Functional Biomaterials Laboratory, Bioproducts Institute, Department of Wood Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Feng Jiang
- Sustainable Functional Biomaterials Laboratory, Bioproducts Institute, Department of Wood Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Thomas P Russell
- Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
| | - Orlando J Rojas
- Bioproducts Institute, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- Department of Chemistry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
- Department of Wood Science, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Mohammad Arjmand
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC V1V 1V7, Canada
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Fink Z, Wu X, Kim PY, McGlasson A, Abdelsamie M, Emrick T, Sutter-Fella CM, Ashby PD, Helms BA, Russell TP. Mixed Nanosphere Assemblies at a Liquid-Liquid Interface. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024; 20:e2308560. [PMID: 37994305 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202308560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
The in-plane packing of gold (Au), polystyrene (PS), and silica (SiO2) spherical nanoparticle (NP) mixtures at a water-oil interface is investigated in situ by UV-vis reflection spectroscopy. All NPs are functionalized with carboxylic acid such that they strongly interact with amine-functionalized ligands dissolved in an immiscible oil phase at the fluid interface. This interaction markedly increases the binding energy of these nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs). The separation distance between the Au NPSs and Au surface coverage are measured by the maximum plasmonic wavelength (λmax) and integrated intensities as the assemblies saturate for different concentrations of non-plasmonic (PS/SiO2) NPs. As the PS/SiO2 content increases, the time to reach intimate Au NP contact also increases, resulting from their hindered mobility. λmax changes within the first few minutes of adsorption due to weak attractive inter-NP forces. Additionally, a sharper peak in the reflection spectrum at NP saturation reveals tighter Au NP packing for assemblies with intermediate non-plasmonic NP content. Grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements confirm a decrease in Au NP domain size for mixtures with larger non-plasmonic NP content. The results demonstrate a simple means to probe interfacial phase separation behavior using in situ spectroscopy as interfacial structures densify into jammed, phase-separated NP films.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Fink
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Xuefei Wu
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Paul Y Kim
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Alex McGlasson
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | - Maged Abdelsamie
- Material Science and Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
- Interdisciplinary Research Center for Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Todd Emrick
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
| | | | - Paul D Ashby
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Brett A Helms
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Thomas P Russell
- Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan
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Yu Y, Pan Y, Shen Y, Tian J, Zhang R, Guo W, Li C, Shum HC. Vascular network-inspired fluidic system (VasFluidics) with spatially functionalizable membranous walls. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1437. [PMID: 38365901 PMCID: PMC10873510 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45781-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
In vascular networks, the transport across different vessel walls regulates chemical compositions in blood over space and time. Replicating such trans-wall transport with spatial heterogeneity can empower synthetic fluidic systems to program fluid compositions spatiotemporally. However, it remains challenging as existing synthetic channel walls are typically impermeable or composed of homogeneous materials without functional heterogeneity. This work presents a vascular network-inspired fluidic system (VasFluidics), which is functionalizable for spatially different trans-wall transport. Facilitated by embedded three-dimensional (3D) printing, elastic, ultrathin, and semipermeable walls self-assemble electrostatically. Physicochemical reactions between fluids and walls are localized to vary the trans-wall molecules among separate regions, for instance, by confining solutions or locally immobilizing enzymes on the outside of channels. Therefore, fluid compositions can be regulated spatiotemporally, for example, to mimic blood changes during glucose absorption and metabolism. Our VasFluidics expands opportunities to replicate biofluid processing in nature, providing an alternative to traditional fluidics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafeng Yu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Yi Pan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
- Institute of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China
| | - Yanting Shen
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Jingxuan Tian
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
- Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Ruotong Zhang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Wei Guo
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
- Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Chang Li
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China
| | - Ho Cheung Shum
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong (SAR), China.
- Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong (SAR), China.
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Honaryar H, Amirfattahi S, Niroobakhsh Z. Associative Liquid-In-Liquid 3D Printing Techniques for Freeform Fabrication of Soft Matter. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2023; 19:e2206524. [PMID: 36670057 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202206524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2022] [Revised: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Shaping soft materials into prescribed 3D complex designs has been challenging yet feasible using various 3D printing technologies. For a broader range of soft matters to be printable, liquid-in-liquid 3D printing techniques have emerged in which an ink phase is printed into 3D constructs within a bath. Most of the attention in this field has been focused on using a support bath with favorable rheology (i.e., shear-thinning behavior) which limits the selection of materials, impeding the broad application of such techniques. However, a growing body of work has begun to leverage the interaction or association of the two involved phases (specifically at the liquid-liquid interface) to fabricate complex constructs from a myriad of soft materials with practical structural, mechanical, optical, magnetic, and communicative properties. This review article has provided an overview of the studies on such associative liquid-in-liquid 3D printing techniques along with their fundamentals, underlying mechanisms, various characterization techniques used for ensuring the structural stability, and practical properties of prints. Also, the future paths with the potential applications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Houman Honaryar
- Division of Energy, Matter, and Systems, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Saba Amirfattahi
- Division of Energy, Matter, and Systems, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
| | - Zahra Niroobakhsh
- Division of Energy, Matter, and Systems, School of Science and Engineering, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, 64110, USA
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Sun S, Luo Y, Yang Y, Chen J, Li S, Wu Z, Shi S. Supramolecular Interfaces and Reconfigurable Liquids Derived from Cucurbit[7]uril Surfactants. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2204182. [PMID: 36148850 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202204182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) offer a powerful means to stabilize the oil-water interface and construct all-liquid devices with advanced functions. However, as the nanoparticle size decreases to molecular-scale, the binding energy of the NPS to the interface reduces significantly, leading to a dynamic adsorption of NPS and "liquid-like" state of the interfacial assemblies. Here, by using the host-guest recognition between a water-soluble small molecule, cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) and an oil-soluble polymer ligand, methyl viologen-terminated polystyrene, a supramolecular NPS model, termed CB[7] surfactant, is described. CB[7] surfactants form and assemble rapidly at the oil-water interface, generating an elastic film with excellent mechanical properties. The binding energy of CB[7] surfactant to the interface is sufficiently high to hold it in a jammed state, transforming the interfacial assemblies from a "liquid-like" to "solid-like" state, enabling the structuring of liquids. With CB[7] surfactants as the emulsifier, O/W, W/O and O/W/O emulsions can be prepared in one step. Owing to the guest-competitive responsiveness of CB[7] surfactants, the assembly/disassembly and jamming/unjamming of CB[7] surfactants can be well controlled, leading to the reconfiguration of all-liquid constructs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyi Sun
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yuzheng Luo
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Jie Chen
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Shuailong Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Zhanpeng Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
| | - Shaowei Shi
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering and Beijing Engineering Research Center for the Synthesis and Applications of Waterborne Polymers, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China
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Ishraaq R, Pial TH, Das S. Interplay of Local Heating, Nanoconfinement, and Tunable Liquid-Wall Interactions Drive Rapid Imbibition and Pronounced Mixing Between Two Immiscible Liquids. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:5137-5142. [PMID: 35657710 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c00809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Designing novel and energy-efficient strategies for disturbing stable interfaces between two immiscible liquids hold the key for a myriad of applications. In this Letter, we propose a highly effective strategy where localized heating (costing less energy) of an interface between two immiscible liquids confined in a nanochannel enable rapid imbibition and mixing between these two liquids. The exact dynamics (imbibition or mixing) depend on the relative wettability of these two liquids to the nanochannel wall. For the case where one liquid is philic and the other is phobic to the nanochannel wall, local heating makes a particular liquid imbibe into the zone occupied by the other liquid with the philic liquid occupying near-wall locations and the phobic liquid occupying the bulk (far wall) positions. The extent of imbibition is quantified in terms of the interfacial thickness between the two liquids, which is found to be larger than the case where the entire system is heated (costing greater energy). We further show that this interfacial thickness can be enhanced by changing the position (along the nanochannel) of localized heating. Finally, we demonstrate that for the immiscible two liquid systems having identical wetting interactions with the wall, the lack of preference of occupying the near wall location by any of the liquids lead to their enhanced mixing in the presence of the localized heating (that imparts additional energy to the liquids enforcing them to cross over to the side of the other liquid).
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Affiliation(s)
- Raashiq Ishraaq
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Turash Haque Pial
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Siddhartha Das
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
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Kamkar M, Ghaffarkhah A, Ajdary R, Lu Y, Ahmadijokani F, Mhatre SE, Erfanian E, Sundararaj U, Arjmand M, Rojas OJ. Structured Ultra-Flyweight Aerogels by Interfacial Complexation: Self-Assembly Enabling Multiscale Designs. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2022; 18:e2200220. [PMID: 35279945 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202200220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The rapid co-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and a surfactant at the oil/water (O/W) interface is harnessed to develop a new class of soft materials comprising continuous, multilayer, interpenetrated, and tubular structures. The process uses a microfluidic approach that enables interfacial complexation of two-phase systems, herein, termed as "liquid streaming" (LS). LS is demonstrated as a general method to design multifunctional soft materials of specific hierarchical order and morphology, conveniently controlled by the nature of the oil phase and extrusion's injection pressure, print-head speed, and nozzle diameter. The as-obtained LS systems can be readily converted into ultra-flyweight aerogels displaying worm-like morphologies with multiscale porosities (micro- and macro-scaled). The presence of reduced GO nanosheets in such large surface area systems renders materials with outstanding mechanical compressibility and tailorable electrical activity. This platform for engineering soft materials and solid constructs opens up new horizons toward advanced functionality and tunability, as demonstrated here for ultralight printed conductive circuits and electromagnetic interference shields.
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Affiliation(s)
- Milad Kamkar
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Ahmadreza Ghaffarkhah
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Rubina Ajdary
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16300, Aalto, Espoo, FI-00076, Finland
| | - Yi Lu
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Farhad Ahmadijokani
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Sameer E Mhatre
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Elnaz Erfanian
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Uttandaraman Sundararaj
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Mohammad Arjmand
- Nanomaterials and Polymer Nanocomposites Laboratory, School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | - Orlando J Rojas
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of Chemistry and Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 16300, Aalto, Espoo, FI-00076, Finland
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