Non-spherical composite particles provide distinct performance characteristics with influence on rheology, light scattering, and assembly structures. Here, tunable multi-lobed particles are synthesized via two-stage seeded emulsion polymerization with soft and glassy domains. The assembled structure is expected to promote porosity compared to spherical primary particles due to their non-spherical morphology. By taking advantage of the different characteristics of the two phases (soft and glassy), we aim to create porous scaffolds through particle self-assembly. The colloidal gel is produced by blending with the sacrificial materials to optimize the viscosity for further 3D printing. During sintering, we allow the diffusion of the low Tg polymer chains (soft) but restrict the mobility of the high Tg polymers (glassy) at a given temperature. The assembly behavior of these lobed particles is studied aiming to achieve a larger scale of porosity and dimensions in the materials by tuning the composition of the gel. By leveraging these non-spherical particles, our incentive in this work is to create three-dimensional (3D) porous engineering scaffolds to additive manufacturing techniques.

Tunable multi-lobed particle assembly for 3D porous structure

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