Importance of solvent singularity on the formation of highly uniform hexagonal close packed (HCP) colloidal monolayers during spin coating

Publication date: May 2019Source: Colloid and Interface Science Communications, Volume 30Author(s): P. Noppakuadrittidej, K. Tonsomboon, S. UmmartyotinAbstractHighly uniform hexagonal close packed (HCP) colloidal monolayers are extremely essential for the development of photonic, optical, and biosensing devices. Even though high quality HCP colloidal structures can be obtained with vertical deposition (VD), this traditional method is time-consuming and not scalable. Spin coating (SC) has recently been used as an alternative method due to its high production rate, scalability and versatility. However, a few attentions have been paid on the key process parameters that affect the packing quality of the colloidal crystal monolayers. This work therefore investigated how the choice of solvent system, rotational speed, and weight fraction of colloidal particles affect the arrangement of the spin-coated HCP monolayer films. Radial distribution function (RDF) analysis was employed to determine the uniformity of particle deposition. The two sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical testing was then used to compare the spin-coated HCP structures to those obtained from the VD method.Graphical abstract
Source: Colloids and Interface Science Communications - Category: Nanotechnology Source Type: research