Crystals close-packed colloidal

Hoogenboom JP, Retif C, de Bres E, de Boer MV, van Langen-Suurling AK, Romijn J, van Blaaderen A (2004) Template-induced growth of close-packed and non-close-packed colloidal crystals during solvent evaporation. Nano Lett 4 205-208... 

Close-packed colloidal crystal composed of silica particles... 

Close-packed colloidal crystal Immobilized in poly(NIPA-Ru complex) Gel... 

Figure 7.4 Preparation of a periodically ordered interconnecting porous poly(NIPAAm-c o-Ru(bpy)3) gel using a close-packed colloidal silica crystal as a template.

The porous membrane templates described above do exhibit three-dimensionality, but with limited interconnectedness between the discrete tubelike structures. Porous structures with more integrated pore—solid architectures can be designed using templates assembled from discrete solid objects or su-pramolecular structures. One class of such structures are three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (or 3-DOM) solids, which are a class of inverse opal structures. The design of 3-DOM structures is based on the initial formation of a colloidal crystal composed of monodisperse polymer or silica spheres assembled in a close-packed arrangement. The interconnected void spaces of the template, 26 vol % for a face-centered-cubic array, are subsequently infiltrated with the desired material. 

Any study of colloidal crystals requires the preparation of monodisperse colloidal particles that are uniform in size, shape, composition, and surface properties. Monodisperse spherical colloids of various sizes, composition, and surface properties have been prepared via numerous synthetic strategies [67]. However, the direct preparation of crystal phases from spherical particles usually leads to a rather limited set of close-packed structures (hexagonal close packed, face-centered cubic, or body-centered cubic structures). Relatively few studies exist on the preparation of monodisperse nonspherical colloids. In general, direct synthetic methods are restricted to particles with simple shapes such as rods, spheroids, or plates [68]. An alternative route for the preparation of uniform particles with a more complex structure might consist of the formation of discrete uniform aggregates of self-organized spherical particles. The use of colloidal clusters with a given number of particles, with controlled shape and dimension, could lead to colloidal crystals with unusual symmetries [69]. 

Monodisperse spherical colloids and most of the applications derived from these materials are still in an early stage of technical development. Many issues still need to be addressed before these materials can reach their potential in industrial applications. For example, the diversity of materials must be greatly expanded to include every major class of functional materials. At the moment, only silica and a few organic polymers (e.g., polystyrene and polymethylmethacrylate) can be prepared as truly monodispersed spherical colloids. These materials, unfortunately, do not exhibit any particularly interesting optical, nonlinear optical or electro-optical functionality. In this regard, it is necessary to develop new methods to either dope currently existing spherical colloids with functional components or to directly deal with the synthesis of other functional materials. Second, formation of complex crystal structures other than closely packed lattices has been met with limited success. As a major limitation to the self-assembly procedures described in this chapter, all of them seem to lack the ability to form 3D lattices with arbitrary structures. Recent demonstrations based on optical trapping method may provide a potential solution to this problem, albeit this approach seems to be too slow to be useful in practice.181-184 Third, the density of defects in the crystalline lattices of spherical colloids must be well-characterized and kept below... 

An inkjet printing of colloidal crystals was proposed by Frese et describing inkjet printing processes of monodispersed particles which are able to form two- or three-dimensional photonic crystals on the substrate surface by arranging in a closely packed lattice structure on the surface. The particle size was selected so that it will diffract light in the visible spectral region, i.e., particle size of 200-500 nanometers. In this work drop-on-demand inkjet printing techniques are utilized. 

The most successful approach to control membrane formation involves segregation of the processes of crystal nucleation and growth [24]. The so-called ex situ or secondary (seeded) growth methods, unlike the direct synthesis procedures just discussed, include a first step in which a closely packed layer of colloidal zeolite crystals, synthesized homogenously, is deposited onto... 

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