In-situ study of the formation of bijel fibers

Bijels are bicontinuous, particle-stabilized porous materials that are made through spinodal decomposition of oil and water that is kinetically arrested through the adsorption of particles at the oil-water interface. [1-3] Our group has recently introduced a synthesis route for bijels with unprecedentedly small channel sizes (ranging 200-2000 nm). [4] Currently, our structural analysis of bijels is limited to post-fabrication confocal scanning laser microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, where both techniques require post-modification of the bijel. Here, we propose to use SAXS and USAXS as a method to investigate the formation of bijel in-situ, where we focus on the structural evolution of oil- and water networks during phase separation and the rearrangement of particles from a dispersed phase into ordered structures.