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Science 19 January 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5503, pp. 453 - 457
DOI: 10.1126/science.291.5503.453
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Reports

A Lost-Wax Approach to Monodisperse Colloids and Their Crystals

Peng Jiang, Jane F. Bertone, Vicki L. Colvin*

We report a nanoscale "lost-wax" method for forming colloids with size distributions around 5% and their corresponding colloidal crystals. Macroporous polymer templates are first prepared from a silica colloidal crystal. We then use the uniform and interconnected voids of the porous polymer to generate a wide variety of highly monodisperse inorganic, polymeric, and metallic solid and core-shell colloids, as well as hollow colloids with controllable shell thickness, as colloidal crystals. We can also uniformly deform the polymer template to alter colloidal shape and demonstrate the formation of elliptical particles with precisely controlled aspect ratios.

Department of Chemistry, Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: colvin{at}rice.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)