Preparation of a three‐dimensional ordered macroporous titanium dioxide material with polystyrene colloid crystal as a template

Abstract

Polystyrene (PS) photonic colloid crystals were assembled from PS spheres prepared by emulsionfree polymerization through an improved vertical deposition method that could shorten the assembly time efficiently. The monodispersity of the spheres was appraised according to the standard deviation. The results showed that the PS spheres had a high monodispersity with a standard deviation of 3.7% and a dispersion coefficient of 0.02. The morphology and bandgap structure were observed with scanning electron microscopy images and transmission spectra, respectively. The mechanism of vertical deposition was analyzed simply. As an application of PS colloid crystals, ordered macroporous TiO 2 photonic crystals were prepared, and the structure and properties of macroporous TiO 2 were also studied with various analytical methods, which provided some values for the fabrication of photonic crystals with a complete bandgap.

Preparation of polystyrene spheres in different particle sizes and assembly of the PS colloidal crystals

“…The average size of the polystyrene colloidal spheres is about 240 nm. The measured result suggests that the size distribution of the colloidal polystyrene spheres is very narrow, indicating that the monodispersity of the polystyrene colloidal spheres is good and that it is quite easy for the colloidal spheres to be assembled into three-dimensional ordered colloidal arrays [10,15]. Figure 5 illustrates the infrared absorption spectra of the polystyrene spheres whose average particle size is about 560 nm.…”

“…Because the preparative process of colloidal crystals is relatively simple, using colloidal crystals as templates for fabricating ordered macroporous materials has become a very efficient method in recent years [5][6][7][8]. In addition, the colloidal crystals are widely used in sensors, filters, optical switches, and other optical devices due to their diffraction characteristics [4,[9][10][11].…”

Wet-Chemical Preparation of TiO2-Based Composites with Different Morphologies and Photocatalytic Properties

“…The crystallinity, pore size and composition are important for tuning the properties of mesoporous TiO 2 spheres [ 1 , 8 , 60 ]. There has been intensive research concentrated on the design and preparation of porous TiO 2 materials with unique porosities and tunable pore sizes [ 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ].…”

Electrodeposited conductive polymers for controlled drug release: polypyrrole

“…Self-assembled polystyrene (PS) templates are used to fabricate porous materials involving several steps to obtain a uniform nanoparticle template where a conducting polymer can be electrochemically deposited [111,112]. After deposition, the colloidal crystals can be dissolved in tetrahydrofuran, yielding porous conducting polymer films.…”