Duan Chengliang, Wang Bin, Li Jinpeng, Xu Jun, Zeng Jinsong, Ying Guangdong, Chen Kefu
Plant Fiber Material Science Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, Guangzhou 51006, China.
Plant Fiber Material Science Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, Guangzhou 51006, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Apr 15;234:123597. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.123597. Epub 2023 Feb 14.
Structural color is an eye-catching phenomenon in nature, which originates from the synergistic effect of cholesteric structure inside living organisms and light. However, biomimetic design and green construction of dynamically tunable structural color materials have been a great challenge in the field of photonic manufacturing. In this work, the new ability of L-lactic acid (LLA) to multi-dimensionally modulate the cholesteric structures constructed from cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) is revealed for the first time. By studying the molecular-scale hydrogen bonding mechanism, a novel strategy that electrostatic repulsion and hydrogen bonding forces jointly drive the uniform arrangement of cholesteric structures is proposed. Due to the flexible tunability and uniform alignment of the CNC cholesteric structure, different encoded messages were developed in the CNC/LLA (CL) pattern. Under different viewing conditions, the recognition information of different digits will continue to reversibly and rapidly switch until the cholesteric structure is destroyed. In addition, the LLA molecules facilitated the more sensitive response of the CL film to the humidity environment, making it exhibit reversible and tunable structural colors under different humidity. These excellent properties provide more possibilities for the application of CL materials in the fields of multi-dimensional display, anti-counterfeiting encryption, and environmental monitoring.
结构色是自然界中一种引人注目的现象，它源于生物体内部胆甾相结构与光的协同效应。然而，动态可调结构色材料的仿生设计与绿色构建一直是光子制造领域的巨大挑战。在这项工作中，首次揭示了L-乳酸（LLA）对由纤维素纳米晶体（CNC）构建的胆甾相结构进行多维度调制的新能力。通过研究分子尺度的氢键机制，提出了一种静电排斥和氢键力共同驱动胆甾相结构均匀排列的新策略。由于CNC胆甾相结构具有灵活的可调性和均匀排列，在CNC/LLA（CL）图案中开发了不同的编码信息。在不同的观察条件下，不同数字的识别信息将持续可逆且快速切换，直到胆甾相结构被破坏。此外，LLA分子促进了CL薄膜对湿度环境更敏感的响应，使其在不同湿度下呈现可逆且可调的结构色。这些优异的性能为CL材料在多维显示、防伪加密和环境监测等领域的应用提供了更多可能性。
