(741g) A Hierarchical Sequence of Colloidal Assembly

In order to study the influence of nanoscale particle roughness on particle-stabilized emulsions, we recently developed a protocol for preparing such emulsions that involves (i) the bulk assembly of dissolved copolymers into functional nanoparticles, (ii) the subsequent assembly of these nanoparticles at the solid-liquid interface of a microparticle dispersion, followed by (iii) the assembly of the resulting composite microparticles at the liquid-liquid interface of an emulsion. The resulting particle-decorated droplets, in turn, offer great opportunities for further interfacial assembly into functional coatings. We will demonstrate the benefits of our particular protocol for its original purpose, the study of roughness effects on Pickering emulsions and briefly explain the outcomes of that study. The primary goal of this talk, however, is to go beyond this rather narrow context, and to highlight the extreme versatility of this type of hierarchical assembly as well as the control of the final material’s properties offered at every assembly step.