Gated Molecular Diffusion at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

Lianshun Li; Huilou Sun; Mingwei Li; Yang Yang; Thomas P Russell; Shaowei Shi

doi:10.1002/anie.202105500

Gated Molecular Diffusion at Liquid-Liquid Interfaces

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021 Aug 2;60(32):17394-17397. doi: 10.1002/anie.202105500. Epub 2021 Jun 30.

Authors

Lianshun Li¹, Huilou Sun¹, Mingwei Li¹, Yang Yang¹, Thomas P Russell^{2

3}, Shaowei Shi¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China.
² Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA.
³ Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.

PMID: 34046998
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202105500

Abstract

The jamming of nanoparticle surfactants (NPSs) at liquid-liquid interface imparts attractive properties to the interfacial assemblies and enables the structuring of liquids. Herein, we report photoresponsive supramolecular microcapsules with jammed NPS assemblies at the oil-water interface, taking advantage of host-guest molecular recognition. The permeability of the colloidal membrane can be effectively manipulated by switching the NPSs from a jammed state to an unjammed state with a photo trigger, leading to a controlled molecular diffusion and release, affording a versatile platform for the construction of next generation smart microcapsule systems.

Keywords: host-guest chemistry; interface; jamming; microcapsules; nanoparticle surfactants.

Abstract

Grants and funding