Influence of growth parameters on the fabrication of high-quality colloidal crystals via a controlled evaporation self-assembly method

A controlled evaporation self-assembly method with multiple controllable parameters was used to synthesize high-quality colloidal crystals. The environmental parameters, such as the relative humidity, evaporation temperature and pressure, were studied for the quality controls of colloidal crystals during the formation. In the experimental results, we show how these parameters influence the quality of colloidal crystals significantly. Moreover, it is found that, under the case of the relative humidity of 70%, evaporation temperature of 35 °C and pressure of 6.0 kPa, the fabricating high-quality colloidal crystals is optimal from aqueous solution of monodisperse polystyrene spheres with a diameter of 260 nm in a short time (less than 10 h). Highest possible crystal quality may be obtained after the natural drying in the vacuum chamber.