This dissertation reports a simple route to synthesis nanostructured composites by immobilizing colloidal crystals (CCs) of monodisperse SiO 2 spheres in crosslinked polymer network. The resulting ordered nanocomposites exhibited the highest modulus reported yet for similar materials. The nanocomposites were optically active and the Bragg diffracted light in a NIR region and wavelength of the Bragg peak could be tuned simply by changing the silica concentration in the composite. They also exhibited intense angle dependent iridescence.
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