Abstract Janus particles with controlled asymmetries and functionalities represent promising building blocks and functional materials due to their unique anisotropic features. Herein, we show a facile and general approach towards… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Janus particles with controlled asymmetries and functionalities represent promising building blocks and functional materials due to their unique anisotropic features. Herein, we show a facile and general approach towards preparing colloidal Janus particles with adjustable surface asymmetries and functionalities based on monolayer colloidal crystal (MCC) templates combined with mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) chemistry at an air-water interface. First, monodisperse colloidal polystyrene/polydopamine (PS/PDA) Janus particles with tunable asymmetrical geometries are synthesized by polymerizing dopamine onto two-dimensional (2D) polystyrene (PS) monolayer colloidal crystals formed at the air-water interface. Moreover, the good chemical reactivity of the PDA coating makes it a versatile platform to introduce a variety of functional materials, e.g., metal nanoparticles and organic molecules, producing colloidal Janus particles with adjustable functionalities. Finally, we demonstrate this synthetic strategy not only provides a controllable method for the fabrication of monodisperse colloidal Janus particles but also opens up a new Janus platform for artificially designed Janus particles with tunable asymmetries and functionalities.
               
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