Formation of patterned arrays of polystyrene colloidal crystal structures on flexible functional substrates

This contribution presents the first preparation of patterned arrays of highly ordered polystyrene colloidal crystal structures on flexible functional substrates. The formation of patterned arrays of colloidal crystals over large areas (5x1 cm) with periodic line patterns ranging in pitch from 25 to 450 microm is demonstrated. The protocol developed to achieve this is applicable to a wide-range of substrates and is inherently scalable. Interestingly, directed colloidal deposition was found to be more susceptible to fluctuations in the deposition conditions than bulk deposition. The conditions required for directed deposition were systematically investigated, and the success of the optimized protocol was illustrated by the deposition of ordered structures on a range of functionalized rigid and flexible substrates. These advances-low-cost production on flexible functional substrates and the fabrication of structures of controlled geometry-address two of the major challenges in developing devices using colloidal crystal structures.