Demulsification-induced Fast Solidification: a Novel Strategy for Preparation of Polymer Encapsulations

Encapsulations are being increasingly investigated in both academic research and industrial manufacturing and applied in numerous fields,such as phase change materials and smart materials.In this paper,a novel strategy of demulsification-induced fast solidification(DIFS)was proposed for the rapid fabrication(within 1 s)of polymer encapsulations via immersion of demulsifier particles in emulsion.The DIFS method allowed the fabrication of three-dimensional(3D)hollow polymer encapsulations with precisely controlled size and thickness over a wide range from micron to millimeter within just 1 s.Magnetic nanoparticles and luminescent materials were further introduced into 3D hollow polymer encapsulations via facile blending method.Moreover,encapsulated paraffin phase change materials with good thermal stability were also obtained using the DIFS method.Therefore,this work provides new insights into the design and preparation of functionalized encapsulation materials.