Spongy all-in-liquid materials by in-situ formation of emulsions at oil-water interfaces. Author Parisa Bazazi, Howard Stone, S Hossein Hejazi Publication Year 2022 Type Journal Article Abstract Printing a structured network of functionalized droplets in a liquid medium enables engineering collectives of living cells for functional purposes and promises enormous applications in processes ranging from energy storage to tissue engineering. Current approaches are limited to drop-by-drop printing or face limitations in reproducing the sophisticated internal features of a structured material and its interactions with the surrounding media. Here, we report a simple approach for creating stable liquid filaments of silica nanoparticle dispersions and use them as inks to print all-in-liquid materials that consist of a network of droplets. Silica nanoparticles stabilize liquid filaments at Weber numbers two orders of magnitude smaller than previously reported in liquid-liquid systems by rapidly producing a concentrated emulsion zone at the oil-water interface. We experimentally demonstrate the printed aqueous phase is emulsified in-situ; consequently, a 3D structure is achieved with flexible walls consisting of layered emulsions. The tube-like printed features have a spongy texture resembling miniaturized versions of "tube sponges" found in the oceans. A scaling analysis based on the interplay between hydrodynamics and emulsification kinetics reveals that filaments are formed when emulsions are generated and remain at the interface during the printing period. Stabilized filaments are utilized for printing liquid-based fluidic channels. Keywords Water, Emulsions, Nanoparticles, Ink, Silicon Dioxide Journal Nat Commun Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 4162 Date Published 2022 Jul 18 ISSN Number 2041-1723 DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-31644-2 Alternate Journal Nat Commun PMCID PMC9293904 PMID 35851272 PubMedPubMed CentralGoogle ScholarBibTeXEndNote X3 XML