Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA.
Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA.
Nat Commun. 2022 Jun 24;13(1):3619. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31020-0.
Nanostructures similar to those found in the vividly blue wings of Morpho butterflies and colorful photonic crystals enable structural color through constructive interference of light waves. Different from commonly studied structure-colored materials using periodic structures to manipulate optical properties, we report a previously unrecognized approach to precisely control the structural color and light transmission via a novel photonic colloidal gel without long-range order. Nanoparticles in this gel form micrometer-sized bicontinuous domains driven by the microphase separation of binary solvents. This approach enables dynamic coloration with a precise wavelength selectivity over a broad range of wavelengths extended well beyond the visible light that is not achievable with traditional methods. The dynamic wavelength selectivity is thermally tunable, reversible, and the material fabrication is easily scalable.
类似于闪蝶翅膀和彩色光子晶体中存在的纳米结构通过光波的相长干涉产生结构色。与通常使用周期性结构来控制光学性质的结构色材料不同，我们报告了一种以前未被认识到的方法，通过一种新型无长程有序的光子胶体凝胶来精确控制结构色和光传输。在这种凝胶中，纳米粒子由二元溶剂的微相分离驱动，形成微米级的双连续域。这种方法使得在宽波长范围内具有精确的波长选择性的动态着色成为可能，其波长范围远远超出了传统方法所能达到的可见光。动态波长选择性是热可调的、可逆的，并且材料的制造很容易扩展。
