INTERLAYER · Building self-supporting all-liquid hierarchical constructs using polysaccharide nanoparticles-stabilized interfaces

Liquids lack the spatial order required for advanced multifunctional materials with spatial resolution. However, self-supporting structured all-liquid multiphase systems would create a new class of biomimetic and reconfigurable materials. This can be achieved by assembling nanoparticles (NPs) at the liquid-liquid interfaces providing enhanced interfacial elasticity and stability. However, NPs-stabilised multiphasic materials currently suffer from low mechanical strength owning to the limited particle concentration that can be achieved at the interface, ultimately limiting the structure-property space. To remove these limitations, INTERLAYER sets out to localise NPs at the interface with much higher concentration via novel advective processing for the first time, enabling non-equilibrium kinetically trapped stabilized states. This will impart enhanced interfacial and bulk mechanical properties, while offering a unique and material-efficient route to create novel self-supporting all-liquid hierarchical constructs. The choice of polysaccharide nanoparticles (PNPs) in INTERLAYER, isolated top-down from plant-based sources, offers a promising platform with adaptability in particle shape, size, and surface chemistry. PNPs are also a sustainable alternative for fossil-based surfactants and inorganic particles, and are gaining increasing attention from industry. INTERLAYER will establish static state diagrams linking PNP physico-chemical properties to the multiphase material structure (Objective 1). Elucidating the physics-chemistry-processing relations will allow the production of novel self-supporting all-liquid hierarchical constructs stabilized by PNPs-laden interfaces (Objective 2). These constructs will then be used to build multiphase materials with more complex structures and advanced functionalities via 3D printing (long-term vision). INTERLAYER will pave the way to the next-generation sustainability-by-design materials, contributing to a more sustainable world.