Guided mechanical self-assembly of bubbles in fiber arrays

Abstract

Spontaneous mechanical self-assembly of monodisperse bubbles generally leads to disordered foams at low density: producing crystalline structures such as Kelvin foams has proven to be challenging experimentally, despite them being a minimum of energy. Here we show how bubbling in different fiber arrays controls foam architectures through a guided mechanical self-assembly. Analyzing X-ray tomography scans of solidified polymer foams using Steinhardt's parameters highlights clear signatures of Kelvin and hexagonal close packing crystalline foams, opening a novel route towards ordered hierarchical materials.