INS4-0121
Polyhedral liquid marbles stabilized with polymer plates
Topic
S4. Colloids, Interfaces, and Molecular Assemblies for Functional Soft Materials
When and Where
Sep 29, 2026
16:25 - 16:50
Room 106
Session Chairs
Taehyoung KIM
Presenter(s)
Syuji FUJII (Osaka Institute of Technology)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
“Liquid marbles (LMs)” are liquid droplets coated with solid particles adsorbed at the liquid-gas interface and behave as non-wetting soft, elastic objects. LMs can be prepared using solid particles with various chemical compositions including organic, inorganic and composite particles. Most of the literature is concerned with (near) spherical particles and their flocs. However, there are no/few studies on LMs stabilized with well-defined non-spherical particles or stabilizers. Thus, it is crucial to reveal and understand the relationship between solid particle shape and LM structure formation to utilize the LMs.
In this presentation, a new type of armored droplets, so-called polyhedral LMs, are introduced. These LMs consist of liquid droplets stabilized by hydrophobic plates made of poly(ethylene terephthalate), which adsorb to the liquid-air interface. Depending on the specific combination of plate size and droplet diameter, the plates self-assemble into highly ordered domains. Even tetrahedral-, pentahedral-, and cube-shaped LMs composed of only 4 to 6 plates are demonstrated. In line with this, highly asymmetric and super-long polyhedral LMs and letters are obtained due to the strong interfacial jamming exerted by the rigid polymer plates. This is particularly pronounced for larger plate sizes leading to LMs with unusually sharp edges. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the introduction of surface roughness improves the hydrophobicity of the polymer plates and the rough polymer plates could stabilize LMs using liquids with a wider surface tension range (72.8-22.9 mN/m). Electron microscopy studies and numerical analyses confirmed that the LMs could be formed, when the Cassie-Baxter wetting state and the metastable Cassie-Baxter wetting state are realized. Finally, the polymer particles with desired forms (e.g., Platonic and rectangular solids) are successively synthesized via free-radical polymerizations by irradiation of the LMs containing vinyl monomers with ultraviolet light in a solvent-free manner. The polyhedral LMs introduced in this study are fascinating from the perspectives of fundamental research and potential industrial applications.
In this presentation, a new type of armored droplets, so-called polyhedral LMs, are introduced. These LMs consist of liquid droplets stabilized by hydrophobic plates made of poly(ethylene terephthalate), which adsorb to the liquid-air interface. Depending on the specific combination of plate size and droplet diameter, the plates self-assemble into highly ordered domains. Even tetrahedral-, pentahedral-, and cube-shaped LMs composed of only 4 to 6 plates are demonstrated. In line with this, highly asymmetric and super-long polyhedral LMs and letters are obtained due to the strong interfacial jamming exerted by the rigid polymer plates. This is particularly pronounced for larger plate sizes leading to LMs with unusually sharp edges. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the introduction of surface roughness improves the hydrophobicity of the polymer plates and the rough polymer plates could stabilize LMs using liquids with a wider surface tension range (72.8-22.9 mN/m). Electron microscopy studies and numerical analyses confirmed that the LMs could be formed, when the Cassie-Baxter wetting state and the metastable Cassie-Baxter wetting state are realized. Finally, the polymer particles with desired forms (e.g., Platonic and rectangular solids) are successively synthesized via free-radical polymerizations by irradiation of the LMs containing vinyl monomers with ultraviolet light in a solvent-free manner. The polyhedral LMs introduced in this study are fascinating from the perspectives of fundamental research and potential industrial applications.
