(421aa) Fabrication and Characterization of (Non-)Colloidal Crystals with Customizable Hierarchy

Particle-based crystals have been explored as a basis for creating ordered porous materials for applications in molecular electronics, photonics, sensors, and drug delivery. However, much of the research on these crystals has been focused on particles of nano and sub-micron dimensions (so-called colloidal crystals) with limited attention directed towards building blocks with dimensions ranging from tens to hundreds of microns. Larger (particle) components, however, offer many practical benefits ranging from a mass transfer as well as mechanical strength perspective and often involve easier synthesis of materials, easier yet potentially more sophisticated surface functionality, simpler measurements of the assembly process, and greater control of the interaction strength and selectivity. Despite these advantages, self-assembly at larger scales remains in its infancy. Components on the meso- and macro-scales are generally influenced by forces within the system in a different manner than their nano-scale counterparts; the underlying thermal effects in these larger systems typically cannot naturally overcome kinetic barriers generally leading to the components becoming kinetically arrested in non-equilibrium states. In this work, we introduce ultrasonic agitation into a system of large particles (or mixtures of particles) and explore the impact that external agitation at varying input energies has on the packing behavior of both monodispersed microparticle populations as well as mixtures of microparticles. Additionally, we will examine the implications of this work on the resulting mechanical properties of “large particle”-based crystals (both monodisperse and mixed-size). The implications of this work will hopefully lead to a better understanding of the assembly behavior and resulting mechanical properties of “large particle”-based crystals.