Fig. 1: Preparation of emulsion using ultrasonication and their rheological properties. | Nature Communications

Fig. 1: Preparation of emulsion using ultrasonication and their rheological properties.

From: Micrometer-thick and porous nanocomposite coating for electrochemical sensors with exceptional antifouling and electroconducting properties

Fig. 1

a Schematics of ultrasonication-based oil-in-water emulsion preparation and antifouling coating. BSA cross-linking and pore formation result in the development of a highly-interconnected porous nanocomposite with a micron-scale thickness. b Analysis of the oil droplet size distribution at various sonication time via DLS. The sonication time of 25 min yielded average droplet size of 325.2 nm with PDI value of 0.165. Inset images show visible difference between the aqueous solution and the oil-in-water emulsion. c Absorbance retention of emulsion with various sonication time. The absorbance values were obtained from UV–vis measurement at 280 nm. Emulsion sonicated for 25 min maintained 100% absorbance level until 120 min and retained 90% absorbance after a day. Inset images show fresh emulsion (left) at 40 min of sonication and their sedimentation (right) after 30 min of storage. d Illustration of correlation between surface charge of droplet and emulsion stability. Increasing surface charge leads to a stronger electrostatic repulsive force between the droplets, preventing flocculation and maintaining droplet size. e Zeta potential values of emulsion with various sonication time. Sonication for 25 min yielded a high zeta potential value of −75.5 ± 9.5 mV. Data represents mean zeta potential with error bars indicating zeta deviation. This deviation was calculated based on bin values from each zeta potential distribution. f Precise patterning of emulsion on the working electrode, resulting in the formation of a uniform porous nanocomposite. The average diameter and center-to-center distance of the printed nanocomposite were measured as 1.52 ± 0.017 mm with coefficient of variation (CV) of 1.1% and 3.46 ± 0.091 mm with CV of 2.64%, respectively. g Confocal microscopy image of porous nanocomposite immobilized with FITC-labeled anti-IgG at excitation wavelength of 488 nm. The CV of intensity within the nanocomposite was 7.81%. Data reproducibility was confirmed by two independent experiments. Scale bars are 500 µm (f, g).

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