Bijels and methods of making the same
Inventors
Haase, Martin F • Lee, Daeyeon • Stebe, Kathleen J
Assignees
University of Pennsylvania Penn
Publication Number
US-12351712-B2
Publication Date
2025-07-08
Expiration Date
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Abstract
A method of making a bijel includes dispersing surface-active nanoparticles in a ternary liquid mixture. The ternary liquid mixture includes a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid, and a solvent. The ternary liquid mixture is contacted with water. A bijel includes a stable mixture of two immiscible liquids separated by an interfacial layer of colloidal particles. The bijel has temperature-independent stability, and the domain sizes are below one micrometer.
Core Innovation
Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsions (bijels) are soft materials with potential applications in areas including healthcare, cosmetics, food, energy and chemical technologies; however, their fabrication is currently limited to only a small number of immiscible liquid pairs, bicontinuous domain sizes are still in the range of tens of micrometers, and the fabrication is inefficient due to its batch-wise nature and expensive starting materials.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to methods of making bijels by dispersing surface-active nanoparticles in a ternary liquid mixture comprising a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid, and a solvent, and subsequently contacting the ternary liquid mixture with water to induce a ternary phase separation initiated by mass transfer of the solvent (solvent transfer-induced phase separation, STRIPS). The invention further provides bijels comprising a stable bicontinuous mixture of two immiscible liquids separated by an interfacial layer of colloidal particles, wherein the bijels have temperature-independent stability and domain sizes below one micrometer, and the methods and materials can be tuned via different nanoparticles and combinations of bicontinuous phases to yield diverse chemical and physical properties for applications such as catalysis, chemical reactions, and filtration/separation.
Claims Coverage
The patent includes two independent claims and the principal inventive features are summarized as seven main elements.
Bijel having temperature-independent stability
A bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion that is a bijel having temperature-independent stability (Claim 1) and wherein the bijel has temperature-independent stability (Claim 8).
Surface-active nanoparticles associated with water-soluble ionic surfactant
Dispersing surface-active nanoparticles into a monophasic ternary liquid mixture, a surface-active nanoparticle having a water-soluble ionic surfactant associated thereon (Claim 1).
Monophasic ternary liquid mixture composition
The monophasic ternary liquid mixture comprises a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid, and a solvent, wherein the hydrophilic liquid, the hydrophobic liquid, and the solvent are each recited by specific exemplary components in the claims (Claim 1).
Equal wettability of nanoparticles by both immiscible liquids
The surface-active nanoparticles are equally wettable by both the hydrophilic liquid and the hydrophobic liquid (Claim 1).
STRIPS phase separation initiated by contacting with water
Contacting the loaded mixture with water so as to initiate phase separation through spinodal decomposition and induce mass transfer of the solvent and give rise to the bijel (Claim 1).
Stable bicontinuous mixture separated by interfacial layer of colloidal nanoparticles
A stable mixture of two immiscible liquids separated by an interfacial layer of colloidal surface-active nanoparticles, a surface-active nanoparticle of the interfacial layer having a water-soluble ionic surfactant associated thereon (Claim 8).
Submicron domain sizes
The bijel has domain sizes of below one micrometer (Claim 8).
The independent claims disclose a bijel material and a method of making the bijel that together claim (1) bijels with temperature-independent stability and submicron domain sizes, (2) the use of surface-active nanoparticles bearing a water-soluble ionic surfactant dispersed in a monophasic ternary liquid mixture of a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid and a solvent, (3) equal wettability of the nanoparticles by both liquids, and (4) initiation of phase separation by contacting the loaded mixture with water to induce solvent mass transfer and spinodal decomposition.
Stated Advantages
Enables large varieties of liquid combinations in ternary systems compared to binary systems.
Provides temperature-independent stability, making bijels stable across a wide range of temperatures (described as 5° C. to 90° C.).
Allows formation of bijel domain sizes below one micrometer and pore diameter sizes from about 5 nm to about 10,000 nm, enabling high surface areas (about 1 m2/g to about 30 m2/g).
Permits continuous production of bijels as fibers or planar membranes, improving efficiency compared to batch-wise prior art methods.
Is more cost-effective than prior art systems by enabling use of commercially available silica and ionic surfactants and allowing diverse nanoparticles and higher particle quantities for tunable architectures and properties.
Documented Applications
Facilitating catalysis and interfacial heterophase catalysis by providing a porous bicontinuous structure and enabling catalytic particles on membrane/fiber surfaces (e.g., TiO2 for photocatalysis).
Chemical reactions, including use as counter flow or cross-flow reactors for biphasic chemical reactions and continuous mass-transfer apparatuses.
Filtration and separation, including membranes and hollow fiber membranes for microfiltration and ultrafiltration (examples include separation of 100 nm and 15 nm gold nanoparticles and applications such as water disinfection and juice clarification).
Fiber scaffold for tissue engineering, wherein bijel fibers with continuous internal water channels and porous walls can serve as fibrous scaffolds for cell growth.
Cosmetic compositions and applications such as skin care or haircare products that encapsulate oil- and water-soluble components within the separate continuous compartments of bijel fibers.
Food compositions and edible bijel fibers providing novel textures, mouth feel, and encapsulation of food-grade oils.
Fog harvesting mesh as an explicitly listed example of a material comprising bijels.
Microfluidic tubes and bijel fiber microfluidics, including aligned fiber bundles usable for microfluidic applications.
Stimuli-responsive separations using polymerized hydrogel bijel fibers (e.g., pH-sensitive polyacrylic acid hydrogel fibers that swell/shrink to open/close pores).
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