Difference between revisions of "Assembly of large-area, highly ordered, crack-free inverse opal films"

Revision as of 03:05, 13 September 2010

Birgit Hausmann

Reference

B. Hatton et. al. "Assembly of large-area, highly ordered, crack-free inverse opal films" PNAS 107 (23) 2010

Keywords

Coassembly, colloidal assembly, crack-free films, inverse opals, nanoporous

Overview

A new synthesis of crack-free inverse opal films over cm length scales is presented. The two step process consists of a) an evaporative deposition of polymeric colloids in a hydrolyzed silicate sol-gel precursor solution and b) a colloidal/matrix coassembly. The preferential grwoth direction is <110>. The synthesis of multilayered hierarchical films are also demonstrated. Furthermore, the inverse opal films were converted to inverse opal films of other materials as porous Si and <math>TiO_2</math> while maintaining their morphology during the gas/solid displacement reaction.

Results and Discussion

Fig. 1 Schematic for inverse opal synthesis: 1) Colloids assemble from a sol-gel solution 2) template removal

Fig. 2 Highly ordered I-<math>siO_2</math> films formed from PMMA/sol-gel coassembly (Left scale bar is <math>10\mu m </math> and right scale bar is <math>1\mu m </math>)

Fig. 3 A) The film thickness is directly proportional to the colloidal concentration. The threshold thickness for cracking is indicated. B) A 1.5cm I-<math>siO_2</math> film. C) A cleaved film reveals the growth direction along <110>. Inset: fcc-lattice model

Cracking seems to occur along {111} planes for thin films, which is consistent with conventional evaporative deposited films, whereas thicker films seem to crack along {110} planes.

Fig. 4 <math>SiO_2</math> inverse opal structures formed by colloidal coassembly. Schematics (left) vs. SEM images (right). (A) Synthesis of multilayered, hierarchical films with different pore sizes by successive layer deposition prior to template removal. (The top left and bottom left SEM images show the interface between layers before and after calcination, respectively.) (B) <math>SiO_2</math> structures grown on topologically patterned substrates (Left), SEM fractured cross section of inverse opals grown in 4 μm wide, 5 μm deep channels on a Si substrate (Right). (C) Coassembly onto curved surfaces (Left), and SEM images (Right) of a <math>SiO_2</math> inverse opal film layer (shown magnified, Inset) deposited onto a sintered, macroporous Ti scaffold structure.