Eric Dufresne (Department of Materials, ETH, Zürich). Self-Assembly and Mechanics of Soft Solid Emulsions.

Cellular materials are composites, where a continuous solid phase encapsulates a fluid phase.  Solid foams are familiar cellular materials.  They include wood, sponges, and polymer foams.  Solid foams have long been appreciated for their combination of strength and low-density.  I will show how the mechanical properties of solid foams and emulsions can be enhanced by stresses associated with the solid-fluid interface.  However, these gains can only achieved when the sizes of embedded droplets or bubbles fall below a stiffness-dependent threshold.  I will describe our new approach to the production of solid emulsions, which features precise control of droplet size at the micron-scale.