Our research focuses on the interfacial chemistry of aqueous microdroplets mediated by self-assembled structures at the liquid-liquid interface. A major focus is the nucleation of crystals in single aqueous nanoliter microdroplets surrounded by an oil phase. This offers numerous advantages to crystal science, owing to the confinement of the crystal, and the possibility of engineering the soft water/oil interface. We describe the nucleation behavior of model inorganic crystals. An aqueous microdroplet of a crystallizable polytypic inorganic solute surrounded by a dewatering oil can be driven to supersaturation by water transport from the droplet, and polymorph control can be achieved depending on amphiphile structure. We also demonstrate the propensity of specific anions to disrupt the crystal templating ability of the monolayer, with a trend that follows a Hofmeister series. Finally, we have attained ultra-rapid droplet crystal nucleation in a system which employs a droplet interface bilayer for membrane crystallization.

One droplet at a time: Soft engineering at the liquid-liquid interface – from membranes to crystallization

245th National Meeting (2013)

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