title: Uniform mesoporous silica hexagon and its two-dimensional colloidal crystal.
abstract: Well-ordered mesoporous silica nanoparticles with uniform hexagonal disk shapes are synthesized under dilute alkaline conditions with a two-step process, separating the nucleation and growth process. The resulting monodisperse hexagons can be arranged in a 2-dimensional (2D) ordered periodical super-structure. The hexagonal symmetry is similar in both scales. A statistical mechanical cell model is applied to analyze consequences of the interesting packing structure, including osmotic bulk modulus, phase separation and defects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University, No. 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yu-Shen
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chun-Yi David
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: Chung-Yuan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Mou