Kinetics of colloidal templating using emulsion drop consolidation

The emulsion templating of ordered colloidal microsphere assemblies by Manoharan et al. involves a consolidation process where dispersed phase fluid is transported from droplets into a continuous phase. Consolidation can be approximated as a diffusion process with moving boundaries. The kinetics of consolidation are investigated here by following droplet shrinkage with time as a prelude to understanding rate effects on assembly structure. Consolidation kinetics are influenced by liquid diffusivity, the number of colloidal particles in a droplet, and the surfactant concentration. While surfactant exhibits little effect well below its critical micelle concentration (CMC) value, it significantly slows consolidation above the CMC. For a specific continuous phase (i.e., silicone oil and fluorinated silicone oil), with proper scalings, the droplet size shrinks with time following a power law independent of droplet diameter, surfactant concentrations, and particle number concentration. The power law exponent varies from 1/2 to 2/3 with different continuous oil phases as a result of concentration and interfacial effects. This study leads to an improved understanding of colloidal microstructure development at interfaces that can be applied in novel materials synthesis and drug delivery areas.