Artificial opal photonic crystals and inverse opal structures – fundamentals and applications from optics to energy storage

Abstract

Photonic crystals (PhCs) influence the propagation of light by their periodic variation in dielectric contrast or refractive index. This review outlines the attractive optical qualities inherent to most PhCs namely the presence of full or partial photonic band gaps and the possibilities they present towards the inhibition of spontaneous emission and the localization of light. Colloidal self-assembly of polymer or silica spheres is one of the most favoured and low cost methods for the formation of PhCs as artificial opals. The state of the art in growth methods currently used for colloidal self-assembly are discussed and the use of these structures for the formation of inverse opal architectures is then presented. Inverse opal structures with their porous and interconnected architecture span several technological arenasoptics and optoelectronics, energy storage, communications, sensor and biological applications. This review presents several of these applications and an accessible overview of the physics of photonic crystal optics that may be useful for opal and inverse opal researchers in general, with a particular emphasis on the recent use of these three-dimensional porous structures in electrochemical energy storage technology. Progress towards all-optical integrated circuits may lie with the concepts of the photonic crystal, but the unique optical and structural properties of these materials and the convergence of PhC and energy storage disciplines may facilitate further developments and non-destructive optical analysis capabilities for (electro)chemical processes that occur within a wide variety of materials in energy storage research.

3D Vanadium Oxide Inverse Opal Growth by Electrodeposition

“…Previous work has identified the influence of deposition time at a given voltage, for opal template formation. 32 Additional deposition approaches involving white noise during dip-coating methods, 13,32,33 spin-coating techniques 34 or other assembly approaches to minimize crack formation have been reasonably successful. 33,[35][36][37][38] We have found that an increase in voltage to 2.5 or 3.0 V does affect ordering on a SS substrate (Figs.…”

“…The oxidation states determined from the V 2p and O 1s core-levels can be estimated according to 13.82 − 0.68 [O 1s − V 2p 3/2 ]. 60,61 The average vanadium oxidation state was calculated to be 4.912 for electrodeposited IO structure, and 5.116 (thus V 5+ ) for the non-templated planar V 2 O 5 film.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] For this reason, the development of synthesis routes for the fabrication of three-dimensional nanostructured active materials onto metallic current collector substrates is important. [10][11][12][13] Electrodeposition is a particularly facile route for the formation of metal and metal oxide films on a variety of conductive substrates and has recently gained a lot of attention for synthesising three-dimensional materials when combined with templates and sacrificial architecture-directing structures. [14][15][16][17] Vanadium pentoxide is a particularly attractive replacement cathode material with its mixed valence, V 4+ and V 5+ , making it an ideal candidate for a large number of redox-dependent applications.…”

Enhancing the properties of some inverse opal metamaterials by the stopband control

“…The (bio) sensors design and biological applications were another challenge using this type of materials. The inverse opal metamaterials are also used for the energy storage and communications, in solar cell technology, for electrochemical energy storage, at super capacitors, fuel cells, catalysts [1][2]. The applications are based of programmable properties of these 3D structured materials, which can be controlled by varying the physical and geometrical parameters of the samples and the applied fields.…”

Structure, Optical and Electric Properties of Opal-Bismuth Silicate Nanocomposites

“…Opal matrix nanocomposites on the base of colloidal crystal templates lled with various active components, providing an e ective interaction with electromagnetic eld, are very promising materials for applications in photonics, light beam-operating and energy storage systems [1,2]. Their properties are determined by both properties of the embedded components and composite topology.…”