(2iz) Interdroplet Interactions and Rheology of Nanoemulsion Templates for Synthesis of Porous Hydrogels

Structure-property relationship in naoemulsions, polymer-surfactant complexation, multiple emulsions, and emulsion-templated polymers

Nanoemulsions are metastable colloidal dispersions with a wide range of applications in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries due to their unique structural properties. Tunable characteristics such as controllable droplet size, volume fraction, composition, and interdroplet interactions provide tools for controlling the structure of nanoemulsions. However, there is a challenge to prepare nanoemulsions with high droplet phase volume fractions using the current methods. Concentrated nanoemulsions can be used to produce nanoporous polymers and increase the efficiency of drug delivery and encapsulation applications. In this research, we develop an effective approach to prepare nanoemulsions up to 60% volume fraction. We study the rheological properties and interdroplet interactions of the nanoemulsions containing poly(ethylene glycol)-diacrylate as the depletant and monomer for hydrogel synthesis and sodium dodecyl sulfate as the surfactant . Specifically, nanoemulsions are investigated in gel, attractive glass, and repulsive glass states through changing the volume fraction and concentration of components. The potential of concentrated nanoemulsions as template to produce highly porous polymers is also investigated in this research. We show how the properties of templated porous polymers can be tuned by adjusting the state of nanoemulsion template.