title: Colloidal jamming at interfaces: a route to fluid-bicontinuous gels.
abstract: Colloidal particles or nanoparticles, with equal affinity for two fluids, are known to adsorb irreversibly to the fluid-fluid interface. We present large-scale computer simulations of the demixing of a binary solvent containing such particles. The newly formed interface sequesters the colloidal particles; as the interface coarsens, the particles are forced into close contact by interfacial tension. Coarsening is markedly curtailed, and the jammed colloidal layer seemingly enters a glassy state, creating a multiply connected, solidlike film in three dimensions. The resulting gel contains percolating domains of both fluids, with possible uses as, for example, a microreaction medium.
authors.affiliation: EPCC, School of Physics, University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, UK.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stratford
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Adhikari
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pagonabarraga
authors.forename: J-C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Desplat
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cates