Fabrication of Silica Shell Photonic Crystals through Flexible Core Templates

We attached very small silica particles onto flexible monodisperse poly (N-isopropylacrylamide, PNIPAm) core particles synthesized by dispersion polymerization. These silica particles were attached to the partially swollen PNIPAm particles by the hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethoxysilane at 24 °C. The resulting silica particle-functionalized PNIPAm core particles show reversible swelling and shrinking as the temperature is cycled. These particles form close-packed-array photonic crystals as the solvent evaporates; the cores shrink to form a silica shell around the pure PNIPAm dry core particles as they close pack. The PNIPAm cores were removed by calcination, leaving a PC composed of essentially pure continuous silica shells. These silica shell photonic crystals Bragg diffract UV light at ~310 nm. The close packed particle interstices are continuous and are easily filled by water. In contrast, the silica shells are impervious to water because the process of making them results in a continuous shell of silica without holes.