Hybrid foams, colloids and beyond: From design to applications

Highly internal phase emulsion (polyHIPE) materials are promising macrocellular foams bearing versatile applications ranging from catalysis, optics, filtration, insulator and so forth. In this critical review water-in-oil HIPE, oil-in-water HIPE and Pickering-based HIPE are discussed. Also in each above-mentioned HIPE family, declination between the organic, inorganic or hybrid-organic foams chemical nature is proposed. The polyHIPE audience is thereby strongly interdisciplinary in nature crossing boundaries of physical chemistry, colloids, polymer science, sol-gel chemistry, hybrid materials, biology and beyond (114 references).