A novel approach to the construction of 3-D ordered macrostructures with polyhedral particles

A novel and facile approach was developed for the fabrication of 3-D ordered macrostructures of polyhedral particles through coating and packing of monodisperse polystyrene-co-poly[3-(trimethoxylsilyl)propyl methacrylate] (St-co-TMSPM) microspheres with the amphiphilic triblock copolymer F127 and phenolic resol by centrifugation, and subsequent thermosetting treatment of the deposited microspheres. The polyhedral particles possess a regular shape of rhombic dodecahedra (1 µm) due to the spontaneous deformation of the fcc packed polymeric microspheres coated with resol–F127 composites during the thermosetting process. The amphiphilic triblock copolymer F127 plays a vital role in the formation of the ordered macrostructured polyhedral particles with compatible poly(St-co-TMSPM)–resin composites. The simplicity of the fabrication method should open up a new door to the synthesis of nonspherical particles and the construction of ordered macrostructures that possess unique properties for potential application in various fields such as photonic crystals.