Crosslinking of floating colloidal monolayers

ABSTRACT: Crosslinked colloidal monolayers are promising as templates, lithographic masks, filtration membranes, or membranes for controlled release rates in drug delivery. We demonstrate assembly of monodisperse micron-sized polystyrene (PS) beads at an air/water interface, which are transformed into crystalline monolayers using addition of surface-active agents. Vapor annealing methods with solvents (toluene and xylene) and crosslinking agents (divinylbenzene) were investigated regarding their ability to crosslink these floating monolayers directly at the interface, generating crosslinked membranes with crystal size up to 44 cm(2), domain size up to 1.9 mm(2), and nano-sized pores (100–300 nm). The demonstrated fabrication method emphasizes short fabrication time using a simple setup. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00706-017-1997-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.