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High-dispersion polystyrene (PS) microspheres with monodispersity were successfully synthesized by the non-emulsification polymerization method, and three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals of PS microspheres were fabricated by electrophoretic self-assembly (EPSA). The metal nickel inverse opal structure (IOS) photonic crystal, of which the structural thickness can be freely adjusted via electrochemical deposition (ECD), and subsequently, MnS/MoS2/Ni-IOS specimens were also prepared by ECD. Excellent specific capacitance values (1880 F/g) were obtained at a charge current density of 5 A/g. The samples in this experiment were tested for 2000 cycles of cycle life and still retained a reasonably good level of 76.6% of their initial capacitance value. In this study, the inverse opal structure photonic crystal substrate was used as the starting point, and then the microelectrode material for the MnS/MoS2/Ni-IOS supercapacitor was synthesized. Our findings show that the MnS/MoS2/Ni-IOS microelectrode makes a viable technical contribution to the design and fabrication of high-performance supercapacitors.

Pyrochlore titanate (Y2Ti2O7) is a promising material for a wide range of applications in optoelectronics and photocatalysis due to its advantageous chemical, mechanical, and optical properties. To enhance its potential for such uses, however, a high-quality and scalable synthesis method is required. We here investigate the crystallization of sol–gel produced Y2Ti2O7 layers. We observe a transition of the amorphous pyrochlore phase at annealing temperatures below 700 °C. The transmittances of the Y2Ti2O7 thin layers annealed at 400 to 700 °C are approximately 92.3%. The refractive indices and packing densities of Y2Ti2O7 thin layers annealed at 400–700 °C/1 h vary from 1.931 to 1.954 and 0.835 to 0.846, respectively. The optical bandgap energies of Y2Ti2O7 thin layers annealed at 400–700 °C/1 h reduce from 4.356 to 4.319 eV because of the Moss–Burstein effect. These good electronic and optical properties make Y2Ti2O7 thin layers a promising host material for many potential applications.