Self-assembly Of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Polyelecrolyte At Liquid-liquid Interface

Nanoparticle surfactants(NPSs)assembled at the oil/water interface can significantly lower the interfacial tension and be used to structure liquids.Using all-liquid phase 3D printing technology,liquid devices with complex structures can be prepared.However,to achieve accurate printing of one liquid in another,it is usually necessary to use a high viscosity liquid,such as silicone oil.Here,we present a simple,low-cost approach to print water in low-viscosity toluene by using a new type of polyelectrolyte surfactant,sodium carboxymethyl cellulose surfactant(CMCS),that forms and assembles at the oil/water interface.The interfacial activity of CMCS can be enhanced by tuning various parameters,and the constructed interface assembly shows excellent mechanical strength.With CMCS jammed at the interface,liquids can be easily printed or molded to the desired shapes,with biocompatible walls that can be used to encapsulate and adsorb active materials.The experimental results show that the interface activity of CMCS is affected by pH and concentrations,among which pH affects the degree of protonation of functional groups to affect the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of CMC at the interface and the interfacial activity of ligands,thereby obtaining highly active CMCS;higher the concentration,more CMCS formed by self-installation at the interface.With jamming of highly active CMCS at the interface,liquid letters with accurate edges and stable structures can be obtained through all-liquid molding method,proving that CMCS has potential for customized packaging applications.The use of highly active CMCS can suppress the characteristics of PR instability,combined with all-liquid 3D printing technology,adjusting the parameters of water injection rate,needle inner diameter and movement rate,etc.,can obtain a regular structure of all-liquid tubulars.The obtained tubulars not only can carry out material transport and has pH response,but also the inner wall composed of CMC can attract positively charged fluorescently labeled bovine serum albumin(FITC-BSA)due to its negative charge.In short,this study opens a new pathway to generate complex,all-liquid devices with a myriad of potential applications in biology,catalysis,and chemical separation.