(179k) Emulsions As Building Blocks for Multifunctional Materials

Emulsions are stabilized blends of immiscible fluids, and see wide application in food, pharmaceuticals, energy, and medical applications. Emulsions can also be used to impart functionality to other materials in order to improve performance or give needed morphology. In this work, we will discuss two uses of non-typical uses of emulsions, i.e., the creation of porous polymer materials and tuning magnetized fluid rheology. For the former, we will discuss the use of high internal phase emulsion foams and how tuning surfactant structure, interfacial tension, and the resulting emulsion structure is key to creating polymeric adsorbent materials. Using emulsions, rather than other types of templating mechanisms, gives researchers an opportunity to tune the porous interface like never before and improve potential application in water treatment. In the second application, emulsions are used as an additive to electromagnetically active fluids as a means of tuning rheology in a scalable and novel way. We will demonstrate visualization of emulsion flow and the impact of emulsion parameters on bulk fluid rheology as a means to create novel actuators for application in prosthetics and seismic damping.