Self-assembly of anisotropic red blood cell (RBC)-like colloidal particles

Abstract

Non-spherical colloidal particles, as basic building blocks, exhibit special capability in constructing novel materials. In this work, red blood cell (RBC)-like, anisotropic particles were synthesized and the self-assembly of the RBC-like particles was then carried out at the air–water interface. Subsequently, multilayer 3D structured colloidal crystals were also fabricated. The as-prepared colloidal crystal film displays beautiful Bragg diffraction, which can be used to construct a photonic crystal. After that, the self-assembly of binary colloidal particles was explored to design well-patterned binary colloidal crystals. This facile self-assembly approach to prepare colloidal crystals may extend to other anisotropic building blocks, providing guidance for the fabrication of more complex and flexible materials.