Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory on Functional Soft Condensed Matter, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China.
Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering of the Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center of Novel Equipment for Polymer Processing, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Technique and Equipment for Macromolecular Advanced Manufacturing, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Oct 14;12(41):46788-46796. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c14698. Epub 2020 Sep 30.
Optical microcapsules encapsulating optical materials inside a symmetric spherical confinement are significant elements for the construction of optical units and the integration of optical arrays. However, the multiple stimuli-responsive characteristic of optical microcapsules still remains a challenge due to the insuperable physical barrier between the optical material core and the outside shell and the lack of effective mechanisms to trigger the dynamic switch of the encapsulated optical materials. Inspired by the dual-mode optical modulation of chameleon skins, a novel biomimetic binary optical microcapsule that combines the visible light reflection of chiral nematic liquid crystals and photoluminescence emission of rare-earth complexes is assembled by microfluidic emulsification and interfacial polymerization. The reflected color, fluorescent intensity, and size of the optical microcapsules are facilely controlled in the microfluidic chip by adjusting the composition and flow rate of the injected fluids. Most importantly, the biomimetic binary optical microcapsules demonstrate three reversible responsive behaviors, thermotropic reflection evolution, temperature-dependent fluorescence emission, and Fredericks electro-optical response. The bioinspired multiple stimuli-responsive optical microcapsules enabled by microfluidics provide a templated strategy to manufacture the next generation of intelligent optical units and to achieve the dynamic response of hybrid photonic devices.
光学微胶囊将光学材料封装在对称的球形约束内，是构建光学单元和集成光学阵列的重要元件。然而，由于光学材料核心与外壳之间不可逾越的物理障碍以及缺乏有效机制来触发封装光学材料的动态开关，光学微胶囊的多重刺激响应特性仍然是一个挑战。受变色龙皮肤的双模光学调制的启发，通过微流乳化和界面聚合，组装了一种新型仿生二元光学微胶囊，它结合了手性向列液晶的可见光反射和稀土配合物的光致发光发射。通过调整注入流体的组成和流速，可在微流控芯片中轻松控制光学微胶囊的反射颜色、荧光强度和尺寸。最重要的是，仿生二元光学微胶囊表现出三种可逆响应行为，热致反射演变、温度依赖的荧光发射和 Fredericks 电光响应。微流控技术实现的仿生多刺激响应光学微胶囊为制造下一代智能光学单元和实现混合光子器件的动态响应提供了一种模板策略。
