Materials scientists have had an interest in colloidal arrays with long range order due to the optical properties a dielectric array can offer. A successful approach for self-assembly of colloidal arrays involves the electrostatic repulsion or steric packing of the particles to produce order. The electrostatic systems are generally dispersed in a high-dielectric liquid medium and several critical requirements must be followed in order to reduce disorder in the crystal. Specific attention must be paid to the charge characteristics of the particles and to the environmental conditions where assembly occurs.

Asher and coworkers invented a hydrogel encapsulation method for electrostatic systems.  This method readily stabilized the particles once they were ordered. Modification of these systems led to different studies, however, very few studies focused on post-hydrogel encapsulation alteration. There have been a few techniques that have introduced various components into the interstitial regions of the assembled particles after the encapsulation into the hydrogel.  However, there is little known about chemically modifying the colloids within the hydrogel film.

In the current study, we introduce a procedure to the functionalization of self-assembled propargyl poly(acrylate) particles encapsulated within a hydrogel matrix through use of a ‘click' chemistry approach. ‘Click' reactions are unique in that they are performed under manageable conditions, require little cleaning and produce high yields. In our case, the focus was specifically on the copper(I)-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between azides and terminal alkynes to form 1,2,3-triazoles. The final goal is a method for the preparation of regioselectively functionalized ordered colloidal particles.