Abstract
Monodisperse silica particles grafted with well-defined, concentrated poly(methyl methacrylate) brushes were synthesized by surface-initiated living radical polymerization. A suspension of the hybrids in a certain concentration range formed a colloidal crystal with an iridescent color. The colloidal crystal showed a sharp phase inversion into a fluid phase depending on the particle volume fraction. The critical particle volume fraction for the crystallization of the present system was intermediate between those of the conventional (soft and hard) colloidal crystals. The crystal structure was strongly dependent on the graft chain length.
