title: Suspended self-assembled opal membranes.
abstract: Suspended self-assembled opal membranes have been prepared from 440- or 170-nm-diameter silica spheres by evaporation of their colloidal solutions over vertically oriented 0.3-mm-thick silicon wafers containing frustum-shaped openings. Robust 0.5 x 0.5 mm(2) membranes with a thickness of ca. 300 mum have been reproducibly prepared using 170 nm silica spheres. The membranes show regular fcc packing with an exposed (111) orientation and are formed in a process that involves drawing silica spheres into the opening with the solvent meniscus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bohaty
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zharov