Hierarchically Structured, Double-Periodic Inverse Composite Opals

A versatile colloidal templating strategy to fabricate hierarchically structured inverse opals is investigated. A sequence of infiltration and pyrolysis steps provides access to a range of material combinations such as SiO2, Al2O3, or TiO2. The experimental results also document the feasibility of this method to fabricate porous polymer films with a double periodic pore lattice.