Shear‐Induced Macropore‐Infused Nanocomposite Emulsion Thermosets

Abstract To create macropore‐infused nanocomposite emulsion thermosets (MINET), a mixing pathway is demonstrated in which a viscous fluid is kinetically trapped by high shear mixing of immiscible liquids, surfactant, and nanoparticles. The MINETs are prepared from common ingredients that are widely employed in industry, including epoxy resin, vegetable oil, epoxidized soybean oil, and different types of nanoparticles such as silica, activated carbon, alumina, and zinc oxide. MINETs prepared by the presented route are processed at ambient conditions and exhibit low shrinkage (<2%). Furthermore, they are suitable to form macro‐ to microscale structures with high precision and various controlled porosity. The interconnected porous architecture of MINET is even preserved in molded micrometer‐scale features and thus ensures mass transport through multiscale structures. In combination with standard microembossing or photolithography, the high throughput microfabrication of microstructured architectures with tunable pore sizes in a wide range (≈100 nm to ≈10 µm) is possible. As one application example, the parallel production of multiplexed electrospray emitters is demonstrated.