Fusion-Induced Structural and Functional Evolution in Binary Emulsion Communities |
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Authors: | Haixu Chen Weiran Li Youping Lin Dr Lei Wang Dr Xiaoman Liu Prof?Dr Xin Huang |
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Institution: | MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001 China |
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Abstract: | The biomimetic dynamic behaviours of emulsions are receiving increasing attention from the broad scientific community; however, the spatiotemporal control and functionalization of emulsions based on simple fusion-induced method is rarely mentioned. A design for protein-stabilized oil-in-water droplets and phospholipid-stabilized oil-in-water droplets is described and a substance-diffusion-mediated fusion mechanism proposed within these two different emulsion communities. Significantly, a range of fusion-induced high-order behaviours were successfully demonstrated including competitive fusion, fusion-induced evolution in membrane complexity, and diversified structures with the formation of Janus or various patchy morphologies, fusion-induced membrane maturation, as well as fusion-induced multifunctionalization with a directional motility behaviour. These results highlight the fusion-induced diverse dynamic behaviours in complex emulsions communities and provide a platform for advancing versatile applications of emulsions. |
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Keywords: | artificial lipid droplets emulsion morphology fusion micromotors substance diffusion |
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