Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 18, 2026
11:34
Epitaxial Nanostructured α-Quartz Films on Silicon: From the Material to New Devices
Published on: October 6, 2020
6.0K
Double Replication of Silica Colloidal Crystal Films
Jennifer L Russell1, Thomas E Mallouk1
1Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Physics, The Pennsylvania State University , University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, United States.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|November 14, 2017
Summary
Polymerizing monomers in colloidal crystals creates inverse opals with contracted lattices. Double replication with silica or titania yields replicas with original lattice spacing, enabling synthesis of complex periodic structures.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Inverse opals are fabricated using colloidal crystals as templates.
- Polymerization within these templates leads to lattice contraction compared to the original structure.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate double replication for creating varied pore sizes from different materials.
- Understand polymer contraction behavior during inverse opal replication.
Main Methods:
- Used colloidal crystal films of silica spheres (33-225 nm).
- Polymerized various vinyl monomers including pEDMA, pDVB, pHDMA, pBDMA, and pEDMA/pDVB copolymer.
- Measured lattice contraction using electron microscopy and spectroscopy.
- Performed double replication by filling polymer inverse opals with silica or titania.
Main Results:
- Lattice contraction varied with monomer's alkyl chain length and cross-linking degree.
- Observed up to 32% contraction for poly(1,2-ethanediol dimethacrylate) (pEDMA).
- Filling with silica or titania restored lattice spacing closer to the original size.
- Successfully generated silica and titania double replicas of colloidal crystals.
Conclusions:
- Double replication offers a method to control lattice spacing in inverse opals.
- This technique provides access to periodic structures, especially for materials like titania, which are challenging to synthesize directly.
