Bioinspired Supramolecular Photonic Composites: Construction and Emerging Applications.

Living organisms have evolved fascinating structural colors to survive in complex natural environments. Artificial photonic composites developed by imitating the structural colors of organisms are applied in displaying, sensing, biomedicine, and many other fields. As emerging materials, photonic composites mediated by supramolecular chemistry, namely, supramolecular photonic composites, are designed and constructed to meet emerging application needs and challenges. This review mainly introduces the constructive strategies, properties, and applications of supramolecular photonic composites. First, constructive strategies of supramolecular photonic composites are summarized, including the introduction of supramolecular polymers into colloidal photonic array templates, coassembly of colloidal particles (CPs) with supramolecular polymers, self-assembly of soft CPs, and compounding photonic elastomers with functional substances via supramolecular interactions. Supramolecular interactions endow photonic composites with attractive properties, such as stimuli-responsiveness and healability. Subsequently, the unique optical and mechanical properties of supramolecular photonic composites are summarized, and their applications in emerging fields, such as colorful coatings, real-time and visual motion monitoring, and biochemical sensors, are introduced. Finally, challenges and perspectives in supramolecular photonic composites are discussed. This article provides general strategies and considerations for the design of photonic materials based on supramolecular chemistry.