Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly of Metal Oxide Inverse Opals: From Synthesis to Applications

ConspectusInverse opals (IOs) are highly interconnected three-dimensional macroporous structures with applications in a variety of disciplines from optics to catalysis. For instance, when the pore size is on the scale of the wavelength of visible light, IOs exhibit structural color due to diffraction and interference of light rather than due to absorption by pigments, making these structures valuable as nonfading paints and colorants. When IO pores are in an ordered arrangement, the IO is a 3D photonic crystal, a structure with a plethora of interesting optical properties that can be used in a multitude of applications, from sensors to lasers. IOs also have interesting fluidic properties that arise from the re-entrant geometry of the pores, making them excellent candidates for colorimetric sensors based on fluid surface tension. Metal oxide IOs, in particular, can also be photo- and thermally catalytically active due to the catalytic activity of the background matrix material or of functional nanoparticles embedded within the structure.Evaporation-induced self-assembly of sacrificial particles has been developed as a scalable method for forming IOs. The pore size and shape, surface chemistry, matrix material, and the macroscopic shape of the IO, as well as the inclusion of functional components, can be designed through the choice of deposition conditions such as temperature and humidity, types and concentrations of components in the self-assembly mixture, and the postassembly processing. These parameters allow researchers to tune the optical, mechanical, and thermal transport properties of IOs for optimum functionality.In this Account, we focus on experimental and theoretical studies to understand the self-assembly process and properties of metal oxide IOs without (bare) and with (hybrid) plasmonic or catalytic metal nanoparticles incorporated. Several synthetic approaches are first presented, together with a discussion of the various forces involved in the assembly process. The visualization of the deposition front with time-lapse microscopy is then discussed together with analytical theory and numerical simulations to determine the conditions needed for the deposition of a continuous IO film. Subsequently, we present high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of assembled colloids over large areas, which provides a detailed view of the evolution of the assembly process, showing that the organization of the colloids is initially dictated by the meniscus of the evaporating suspension on the substrate, but that gradually all grains rotate to occupy the thermodynamically most favorable orientation. High-resolution 3D transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is then presented together with analysis of the wetting of the templating colloids by the matrix precursor to provide a detailed picture of the embedding of metallic nanoparticles at the pore-matrix interface. Finally, the resulting properties and applications in optics, wetting, and catalysis are discussed, concluding with an outlook on the future of self-assembled metal-oxide-based IOs.