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DOE OSTI · 1634050

Stabilizing Liquids Using Interfacial Supramolecular Polymerization

Gu, Pei‐Yang·Chai, Yu·Hou, Honghao·Xie, Ganhua·Jiang, Yufeng·Xu, Qing‐Feng·Liu, Feng·Ashby, Paul D.·Lu, Jian‐Mei·Russell, Thomas P.
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Abstract

The strong electrostatic interactions at the oil–water interface between a small molecule, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin, H 6 TPPS, dissolved in water, and an amine terminated hydrophobic polymer dissolved in oil are shown to produce a supramolecular polymer surfactant (SPS) of H 6 TPPS at the interface with a binding energy that is sufficiently strong to allow an intermolecular aggregation of the supramolecular polymers. SPSs at the oil–water interface are confirmed by in situ real-space atomic force microcopy imaging. The assemblies of these aggregates can jam at the interface, opening a novel route to kinetically trap the liquids in non-equilibrium shapes. The elastic film, comprised of SPSs, wrinkles upon compression, providing a strategy to stabilize liquids in non-equilibrium shapes.

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Gu, Pei‐Yang, Chai, Yu, Hou, Honghao, Xie, Ganhua, Jiang, Yufeng, Xu, Qing‐Feng, Liu, Feng, Ashby, Paul D., Lu, Jian‐Mei, Russell, Thomas P.. 2019-07-28. Stabilizing Liquids Using Interfacial Supramolecular Polymerization. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201906339

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