“…The incorporation of metal nanoparticles into inverse opals has recently attracted particular attention in the literature. 8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The high surface area and photonic properties of inverse opals coupled with the plasmonic 22,23 or catalytic 24 properties of metal nanoparticles greatly expand the possible applications of these materials as catalysts, 8 sensors, 14,15 photonic structures, [15][16][17][18] and in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). 20 In most prior investigations, however, inverse opal structures were fabricated by multi-step processes involving assembly of colloidal crystals as sacrificial templates, then infiltrating the structure with a matrix material, such as an appropriate hydrolyzable alkoxide solgel precursor, allowing gelation to take place, and, subsequently, removing the colloidal template by dissolution or thermal decomposition.…”