UPenn_MRSEC_2309043_IRG2_Stebe_Lee_3D_Printed_Bicontinuous_Gels_fig

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Nine microscopy panels arranged in three rows. The far-left column shows photographs of a small 3D-printed object: a stack of pink layers for row (a), a vertical wall for row (b), and a column for row (c). The three columns to the right show progressively higher magnifications outlined in red, blue, and yellow dashed boxes. Row (a), labeled 3D printed emulsion: CLSM, shows confocal fluorescence images of bright green wormy channels (polymer) interpenetrating black regions (pores), at scale bars 50, 10, and 5 micrometers. Row (b), labeled 3D printed emulsion: SEM, shows scanning electron micrographs of the same sample in cross-section, revealing polymer channels densely coated with small spherical silica nanoparticles, at scale bars 10, 5, and 2 micrometers. Row (c), labeled SEM after silica etching, shows scanning electron micrographs of the cross-section after the silica has been removed, exposing a smooth interpenetrating network of polymer ridges and open pores at scale bars 50, 10, and 2 micrometers.

Multi-scale imaging of a 3D-printed bicontinuous emulsion gel, zooming in left to right (red → blue → yellow boxes). (a) Confocal fluorescence: green = cured polymer (oil phase), black = pores (water phase). (b) SEM cross-section: polymer channels coated with the silica nanoparticles that locked the oil-water interface. (c) After silica is etched away, the interpenetrating polymer-pore network is exposed.