Engineering of Complex Macroporous Materials Through Controlled Electrodeposition in Colloidal Superstructures

Abstract

Abstract Macroporous materials with a sophisticated architecture are obtained by electrochemical deposition of gold or polypyrrole in colloidal‐crystal templates. The Langmuir–Blodgett technique enables assembly of sub‐micrometric silica‐particle monolayers on conductive gold substrates, thus leading to colloidal superstructures with an unprecedented control of their features at the single‐bead‐layer level. This allows the integration of deliberate planar defects or the elaboration of well‐defined gradients in terms of sphere size. Controlled infiltration using electrochemical deposition preserves the architecture of the original templates and leads to inverse opals with well‐defined pore structures after the removal of the inorganic particles.