Enabling New Classes of Templated Materials through Mesoporous Carbon Colloidal Crystals

Porous oxide and semiconductor inverse opals are obtained through an orthogonal process that utilizes a colloidal crystal formed from monodisperse starburst carbon spheres as a template. Through atomic layer deposition and static chemical vapor deposition, the templated materials penetrate deep into the ultra-high surface area colloids, generating the porous inverse opal after carbon removal. The carbon can be removed by either thermal oxidation or oxygen plasma, processes which do not etch the templated materials.