Patent ID: 11857936
Assignee: THE TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
Field: Chemical engineering (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC B  C | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A method of making a stabilized bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsions (bijel), comprising:
dispersing surface-active nanoparticles into a liquid mixture, the liquid mixture comprising a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid, and a solvent to mediate miscibility between the hydrophilic liquid and the hydrophobic liquid;
dispersing one or more metal oxide precursors into the liquid mixture;
contacting the liquid mixture with water, wherein the surface-active nanoparticles jam at an interface between the hydrophilic liquid and the hydrophobic liquid; and
hydrolyzing and condensing the one or more metal oxide precursors in a sol-gel reaction to form metal oxide bridges between the interfacially jammed surface-active nanoparticles, wherein the interfacially jammed surface-active nanoparticles are sintered.