Crown Ether‐Functionalized Complex Emulsions as an Artificial Adaptive Material Platform

Responsive materials capable of autonomously regulating and adapting to molecular recognition-induced chemical events hold great promise in the design artificial chemo-intelligent life-like soft material platforms. In this context, a synthetically minimal emulsion platform that, regulated by interfacial supramolecular recognition events, is reversibly adapt its environment reported. The systems exhibit programmed up- down-regulating capabilities that are realized via selective assembly synthesized crown ether surfactants onto one hemisphere anisotropic biphasic droplets. Dynamic reversible host–guest complexation of, for example, metal ammonium ions or amino acids transduce into interface-triggered morphological reconfigurations complex droplets, which mediate their ability selectively present, hide, expand liquid–liquid interfaces. separate responsive modalities then used showcase utility such adaptive platforms self-regulated uptake release phase-transfer catalysts, biomimetic biomolecules including acids, carbohydrates, antibodies, triggered surface-encoded payload applications.