Facile Fabrication of Large-Area and Free-Standing Ni Inverse Opals

Abstract

In this work, we demonstrate a simple scheme combining electrophoresis and electrodeposition to fabricate large-area unsupported Ni inverse opals. A variety of experimental variables are explored and the optimized parameters allows for the packing of 495 nm polystyrene microspheres on an ITO substrate to form a defectless colloidal crystal. Subsequently, a Ni plating is adopted to produce inverse opals, followed by the removal of the colloidal template and ITO substrate via chemical and physical routes. The large-area and free-standing Ni inverse opals (2×2 cm2) reveal hexagonally-arranged pores with interconnected pore channels. Materials characterization including SEM, XRD, AFM, Hall effect, 4-point probe, and porometer measurements are performed and their results are discussed.