Bioinspired bioassay platforms derived from colloidal crystals with topological shapes

Colloidal crystals are materials self-assembled from the colloidal nanoparticles. Due to the ordered microstructure, they exhibit significant optical properties and have shown huge potential in the field of biosensing. Besides, the unique macroscopic shapes can also play a critical role in the sensing process. Here, we present a comprehensive discussion on the colloidal crystal-based biosensors with different topological shapes, including the development strategies of currently reported colloidal crystal particles, films, and fibers, and their recent progress in biosensing. In addition, the faced challenges and the possible solutions are also concluded and discussed. We expect this review can enrich the knowledge and encourage the communication of interdisciplinary researchers, thus promoting the further development and practical applications of colloidal crystal-based biosensors. Colloidal crystals have huge potential in the biomedical fields, especially in biosensing. This review highlights the efforts in biosensing using colloidal crystals with different topologies. The fabrication and applications are discussed comprehensively, and we hope this review can provide some inspiration for the development of colloidal crystals and novel biosensing platforms.image