Fig. 4: Monomer-resolved Brownian dynamics simulations of regular thermo-responsive microgels confined between two planar liquid interfaces and a Wigner-Seitz cell.

a Schematic illustration of the simulation set-up (top) and the corresponding interfacial monomer potential (bottom). The monomers are shown as green/purple spheres and the crosslinker as grey spheres. The potential of the oil phase was varied (black, dark grey and grey curves) to allow more beads (size σ) in the oil phase, mimicking changes in microgel wettability. b, c Osmotic pressure Π exerted by the microgel onto the liquid interface as a function of distance d between the two liquid interfaces of one microgel adsorbed to both interfaces (filled, representing flocculated emulsions) and two confined microgels each adsorbed to one interface (hollow, representing dispersed emulsions) in the swollen (b) and in the collapsed (c) state. A positive Π corresponds to a repulsive force of the microgels onto the two liquid interfaces. d, e Representative snapshots of the microgels at different compression states in the swollen (d) and collapsed (e) states. The Roman numerals (i-iv) link the snapshot to the corresponding data points in (b, c). For one microgel, we notice the formation of a catenoid structure upon collapsing.