Vertical spreading of two-dimensional crystalline colloidal arrays

We report on a novel self-driven climbing of two-dimensional (2-D) ordered monolayer crystalline colloidal arrays (CCAs). This phenomenon can be used to rapidly and efficiently prepare large area, highly ordered 2-D array monolayer CCA films on various substrates. Large area 2-D polystyrene (PS) particle CCAs were fabricated on water surfaces by a needle tip flow technique. Introduction of a wet substrate through the 2-D particle monolayer array on the water surface causes the 2-D array to flow onto the wet substrate surface due to a surface spreading pressure. This method can quickly prepare ordered 2-D particle arrays on numerous wet substrates including flat/curved glass slides, inner walls of glass tubes, hydrogels, flexible polymer films, patterned surfaces, etc. By using responsive hydrogels as substrates, we can conveniently prepare 2-D photonic crystal sensors that can be used to visually determine analyte concentrations. For example, we prepared 580 nm PS 2-D arrays on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels to sense ethanol in water. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry.