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We have demonstrated the fabrication of highly ordered three-dimensional macroporous membranes with crystalline assemblies of monodispersed mesoscale particles (∼200 nm to ∼10 μm in diameter) as templates. We filled the void spaces among the particles with a UV-curable liquid prepolymer by capillary action. Subsequent solidification of the prepolymer and dissolution of the particles yielded a membrane film consisting of a highly organized and three-dimensionally interconnected framework of spherical pores. The pores are uniform in size, with dimensions defined by the diameter of the particles. The pores are completely exposed on both top and bottom surfaces of the membrane film. In addition to those applications associated with conventional macroporous materials, the macroporous membranes fabricated here are potentially useful as photonic bandgap structures or as supports for the fabrication of diffractive optical sensors due to their specified and highly ordered structures.
Park et al. (Tue,) studied this question.