Colloidal crystal

A colloidal crystal is an ordered array of colloidal particles and fine grained materials analogous to a standard crystal whose repeating subunits are atoms or molecules.^[1] A natural example of this phenomenon can be found in the gem opal, where spheres of silica assume a close-packed locally periodic structure under moderate compression.^[2]^[3] Bulk properties of a colloidal crystal depend on composition, particle size, packing arrangement, and degree of regularity. Applications include photonics, materials processing, and the study of self-assembly and phase transitions.

IUPAC definition

Assembly of colloid particles with a periodic structure that
conforms to symmetries familiar from molecular or atomic crystals.
Note: Colloidal crystals may be formed in a liquid medium or during
drying of particle suspension.^[4]

^ Pieranski, Pawel (1983). "Colloidal crystals". Contemporary Physics. 24: 25–73. Bibcode:1983ConPh..24...25P. doi:10.1080/00107518308227471.
^ Jones, J. B.; Sanders, J. V.; Segnit, E. R. (1964). "Structure of Opal". Nature. 204 (4962): 990. Bibcode:1964Natur.204..990J. doi:10.1038/204990a0. S2CID 4191566.
^ Darragh, P.J., et al., Opal, Scientific American, Vol. 234, p. 84, (1976)
^ Slomkowski, Stanislaw; Alemán, José V; Gilbert, Robert G; Hess, Michael; Horie, Kazuyuki; Jones, Richard G; Kubisa, Przemyslaw; Meisel, Ingrid; Mormann, Werner; Penczek, Stanisław; Stepto, Robert F. T (2011). "Terminology of polymers and polymerization processes in dispersed systems (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)" (PDF). Pure and Applied Chemistry. 83 (12): 2229–2259. doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-10-06-03. S2CID 96812603. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2013-07-17.

[Pieranski,_P._p.25-1] Pieranski, Pawel (1983). "Colloidal crystals". Contemporary Physics. 24: 25–73. Bibcode:1983ConPh..24...25P. doi:10.1080/00107518308227471.

[2] Jones, J. B.; Sanders, J. V.; Segnit, E. R. (1964). "Structure of Opal". Nature. 204 (4962): 990. Bibcode:1964Natur.204..990J. doi:10.1038/204990a0. S2CID 4191566.

[3] Darragh, P.J., et al., Opal, Scientific American, Vol. 234, p. 84, (1976)

[4] Slomkowski, Stanislaw; Alemán, José V; Gilbert, Robert G; Hess, Michael; Horie, Kazuyuki; Jones, Richard G; Kubisa, Przemyslaw; Meisel, Ingrid; Mormann, Werner; Penczek, Stanisław; Stepto, Robert F. T (2011). "Terminology of polymers and polymerization processes in dispersed systems (IUPAC Recommendations 2011)" (PDF). Pure and Applied Chemistry. 83 (12): 2229–2259. doi:10.1351/PAC-REC-10-06-03. S2CID 96812603. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2013-07-17.

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