Electrostatic fence induced assembly of low-concentration colloidal nanospheres to form liquid photonic crystals

Liquid photonic crystals (LPCs) have great application potential in sensors, anti-counterfeiting materials and detection due to their sensitive dynamic responsiveness. Currently, the preparation of LPCs mainly relies on the supersaturation of colloidal nanospheres. However, the supersaturation method usually fails to obtain LPCs based on low-concentration colloidal nanospheres. In turn, the use of high-concentration colloidal nanospheres results in poor mobility of LPCs, which makes them inappropriate for subsequent utilization in responsive systems. In this study, self-assembly of LPCs with vibrant structural colors is achieved through the electrostatic fence effect by introducing an anionic carboxylate-containing polymer as an inducer into the system of low-concentration negatively charged colloidal nanospheres (≥1.25 wt%). It is shown that the anionic carboxylate groups on the inducer molecules and the appropriate molecular chain length are the decisive factors for the inducing effect. The obtained LPCs exhibit a typical non-close-packed structure with a face-centered cubic arrangement of nanospheres. The nearest inter-nanosphere surface distance is 12.10 nm, and the farthest one is as long as 40.30 nm. The LPCs possess good dynamic recovery performance and sensitive optical response characteristics, which are conducive to application in responsive optical sensors directly or after filling.