title: Non-Brownian particle-based materials with microscale and nanoscale hierarchy.
abstract: Colloidal crystals are interesting materials owing to their customizable photonic properties, high surface area, and analogy to chemical structures. The flexibility of these materials has been greatly enhanced through mixing particles with varying sizes, compositions, and surface charges. In this way, distinctive patterns or analogies to chemical stoichiometries are produced; however, to date, this body of research is limited to particles with nanoscale dimensions. A simple method is now presented for bottom-up assembly of non-Brownian particle mixtures to create a new class of hierarchically-ordered materials that mimic those found in nature (both in pore distribution as well as stoichiometry). Additionally, these crystals serve as a template to create particle-based inverted crystalline structures with customizable properties.
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 3700 O'Hara St, Pittsburgh PA 15261 (USA).
authors.forename: Melissa H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lash
authors.forename: Jahnelle C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Blevins
authors.forename: Morgan V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Fedorchak
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McCarthy
keywords: colloidal crystals; microparticles; multicomponent crystals; nanostructures; self-assembly