Recent advances in nanoarchitectures of monocrystalline coordination polymers through confined assembly

• Lingling Xia,
• Qinyue Wang and
• Ming Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 763–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.67

• networks were formed by densely packed monodispersed polystyrene spheres, ordered macropores could be created inside ZIF-8 single crystals or other coordination polymers (Figure 5) [117][118]. The inverse opal single crystals presented higher catalytic activity than microporous single crystals. These

• . Such an enhancement could also be found in the case of electrodes for supercapacitors. The carbons derived from the inverse opal single crystals showed excellent cycling stability [120]. When the networks do not have lattice similarity with the grown monocrystalline coordination polymers, the crystal

A photonic crystal material for the online detection of nonpolar hydrocarbon vapors

• Evgenii S. Bolshakov,
• Aleksander V. Ivanov,
• Andrei A. Kozlov,
• Anton S. Aksenov,
• Elena V. Isanbaeva,
• Sergei E. Kushnir,
• Aleksei D. Yapryntsev,
• Aleksander E. Baranchikov and
• Yury A. Zolotov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 127–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.9

• removed, then it is an inverse opal structure [11][12][13]. A photonic bandgap (PBG) appears in colloidal crystals due to the periodic modulation of the refractive index. At the bandgap, selective reflection of light is observed, which is connected to a low photon density of states within the materials

• [14]. Most of the configuration changes of the photonic bandgap in opal and inverse opal structures occur due to swelling or compression of the polymer matrix or gel. To date, four main methods for the modification of photonic crystals are used for the creation of stimuli-responsive materials: (a

Al₂O₃/TiO₂ inverse opals from electrosprayed self-assembled templates

• Arnau Coll,
• Sandra Bermejo,
• David Hernández and
• Luís Castañer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 216–223, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.23

• size) or silicon dioxide nanoparticles with dimensions typically several hundreds of micrometers with a close packed, face-centered cubic, three-dimensional order. In parallel we have shown the use of Al2O3 as a good candidate for the inverse opal supporting layer regarding the low temperature

• device is a 3D periodic structure of alumina and spherical voids. The shape of the voids depends on the initial order of the polystyrene nanoparticle layer. At this point the sample is already an inverse opal having a refractive index contrast of 1.7/1 between alumina and air. The next step of the

• process is the deposition of a conformal ALD layer of TiO2. Titania conformally covers the alumina layer as shown in Figure 1d. At this point, the structure is an inverse opal of a composite Al2O3/TiO2 layer with air voids. The result of the first fabrication step is shown in Figure 2 where up to 50

Colorimetric gas detection by the varying thickness of a thin film of ultrasmall PTSA-coated TiO₂ nanoparticles on a Si substrate

• Urmas Joost,
• Andris Šutka,
• Meeri Visnapuu,
• Aile Tamm,
• Meeri Lembinen,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Kathriin Utt,
• Krisjanis Smits,
• Ergo Nõmmiste and
• Vambola Kisand

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 229–236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.25

• excellent color response with great potential for optical gas detection. Although a large variety of sensing arrays of periodic well-ordered inverse opal structures has been fabricated, it is still a challenge to fabricate inverse opal structures by straightforward and cost effective large-scale processes

• -ordered structures, which is a main requirement for other materials providing naked-eye optical gas detection (e.g., inverse opals). The sensing range of the current system is comparable to inverse opal systems. Zhang et al. demonstrated that a silole-infiltrated SiO2 inverse opal photonic crystal exhibit

Three-gradient regular solution model for simple liquids wetting complex surface topologies

• Sabine Akerboom,
• Marleen Kamperman and
• Frans A. M. Leermakers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1377–1396, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.129

• with a complex surface topology to study the shape of a liquid drop in advancing and receding wetting scenarios. More specifically, we study droplets on an inverse opal: spherical cavities in a hexagonal pattern. In line with experimental data, we find that the surface may switch from hydrophilic

• found. Therefore, the full 3D-structure of the inverse opal, rather than a simple parameter such as the wetting state or θkink, determines the final observed contact angle. Keywords: inverse opal; regular solution model; self-consistent field theory; surface topology; wetting; Introduction Wetting of

• surface is hydrophobic (apparent contact angle θ > 90°) [1]. Recently, different surface structures have been designed and fabricated from hydrophilic materials that show hydrophobic contact angles [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. An example is an inverse opal as schematically shown in Figure 1. Our group