Remotely Controllable Liquid Marbles

Liquid droplets encapsulated by self-organized hydrophobic particles at the liquid/air interface – liquid marbles – are prepared by encapsulating water droplets with novel core/shell-structured responsive magnetic particles, consisting of a responsive block copolymer–grafted mesoporous silica shell and magnetite core (see figure; P2VP-b-PDMS: poly(2-vinylpyridine-b-dimethylsiloxane)). Desirable properties of the liquid marbles include that they rupture upon ultraviolet illumination and can be remotely manipulated by an external magnetic field.