Ferrocene‐Containing Inverse Opals by Melt‐Shear Organization of Core/Shell Particles

Abstract

In this work, the preparation of redox-responsive elastomeric inverse opal films featuring switchable structural colors is reported. The pristine core/shell particle architecture consists of a silica core having a metallopolymer shell, that is, poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl ferrocene carboxylate) (PFcMA) copolymerized with n-butyl methacrylate (PFcMA-co-PnBuMA) synthesized via seeded and stepwise emulsion polymerization protocols. This tailor-made, inorganic core/hybrid organic shell architecture leads to monodisperse particles, which were then subjected to the so-called melt-shear organization technique. After a cross-linking reaction and the core particle removal, vivid structural colors are obtained due to the well-ordered voids within the metallopolymer-containing matrix. In addition, redox responsiveness is shown by the addition of chemical oxidation and reducing agents as well as by cyclic voltammetry studies, thus revealing both a change of surface wettability and a change of the structural reflection colors. Herein, the described one-pot strategies for the preparation of metallopolymer-containing core/shell hybrid particles and application of the melt-shear ordering technique paves the way to novel redox-responsive porous opal films, which are expected to be promising materials in the field of remote-switchable sensors or electrochemical adsorbents.

Compression-Responsive Photonic Crystals Based on Fluorine-Containing Polymers

“…Furthermore, the addition of the liquid monomer BDDA led to the formation of extrusion polymer strands that were soft, sticky, and easy to process within the melt-shear organization. The opal film was obtained between two PET foils and two press plates at 50 • C and five bar for 60 s. These are comparatively mild conditions for the melt-shear organization process, as described previously [65]. The opal film was cooled to room temperature followed by subsequent cross-linking reaction by irradiation using a UVA cube (cf.…”

“…Moreover, fully crack-free opal films could be obtained. Recently, the feasibility of this technique for the combination of organic and inorganic core particles featuring a soft and melt-able shell has been reported [64][65][66][67]. The melt-shear organization technique allowed for the rapid fabrication of highly ordered core particles embedded in a shell of elastomeric polymer matrix [37,68].…”

Fluoropolymer-Containing Opals and Inverse Opals by Melt-Shear Organization

“…The hard core/soft shell particles are compressed between the plates of a moderately hot press, and the hard core particles can merge into the colloidal crystal structure yielding free-standing polymer opal films in one single step. Only recently, the feasibility of this technique was shown for inorganic core particles featuring a polymer or hybrid soft and meltable shell was reported [40,41,42,43,44]. This melt-shear organization technique allows for the facile preparation of almost perfectly ordered core/shell particles embedded in an elastomeric polymer matrix, and it can be applied on industrially relevant length scales [45].…”

Enzyme Responsive Inverse Opal Hydrogels

“…Among them, polymeric inverse opal structures have drawn considerable attention as prospective sensor materials with demonstrations in monitoring humidity, pH, temperature, glucose, and biological macromolecules 23–32. More recently, the ability to fabricate large area planar opal and inverse opal materials has made them attractive substrates for cell culture, where changes in optical properties correspond to specific cellular activity 33–40…”

“…[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] More recently, the ability to fabricate large area planar opal and inverse opal materials has made them attractive substrates for cell culture, where changes in optical properties correspond to specific cellular activity. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] In this communication, we present a synthetic hydrogelbased inverse opal construct that can be micropatterned through lithography and transfer printing, with the ability to monitor the activity of protease enzymes. In contrast to previous work where stretching or swelling of inverse opals leads to optical actuation, here we fill the voids of the inverse opal structure with enzyme-active materials to remotely monitor activity in real time.…”