Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels) as an emerging class of soft materials have shown interest in many applications, including energy storage, tissue engineering, separation, and catalysis. The experimental investigation on bijels is still in its infancy due to fabrication challenges. In this study, we explore the possibility of bijels forming from various oils including fatty acid and phthalate ester using in various systems including different nanoparticles with different charges and size and different surfactants. Fabricated bijels so far lack the complexity in design and accuracy in details. That is to say, the structures obtained so far are at best regularly shaped such as microfibers or droplets, and no complex design with irregular shapes and spatial features have been fabricated. In this study with the help of liquid-in-liquid 3D printing (LL3DP) various structures with different designs were printed, and confocal and light microscopy images confirmed that resulting gels are bicontinuous and their mechanical properties measured, and rheological behavior and viscoelasticity are characterized as shear-thinning gels.

2D Printing of various constructs with all ternary mixtures including a statue of liberty and an artery design with<br /> DEP-Ludox TMA-CTAB system (Top-right), a star and a meandering channel with OA-Ludox TMA-CTAB system (Top-left),<br /> bijel text and letter ”B” with DEP-Ludox CL-SDS system (Bottom-left), and a flower-shaped and a 2D planar spiral with<br /> OA-Ldox CL-SDS system (bottom-right).

2D Printing of various constructs with all ternary mixtures including a statue of liberty and an artery design with
DEP-Ludox TMA-CTAB system (Top-right), a star and a meandering channel with OA-Ludox TMA-CTAB system (Top-left),
bijel text and letter ”B” with DEP-Ludox CL-SDS system (Bottom-left), and a flower-shaped and a 2D planar spiral with
OA-Ldox CL-SDS system (bottom-right).

Zahra Niroobakhsh

University of Missouri-Kansas City

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