Duan Chengliang, Tang Feiyu, Chen Jian, Wang Bin, Guo Daliang, Sha Lizheng
School of Environmental and Natural Resources, Zhejiang University of Science & Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310023, China; Key Laboratory of Recycling and Eco-treatment of Waste Biomass of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Science & Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310023, China.
Plant Fiber Material Science Research Center, State Key Laboratory of Advanced Papermaking and Paper-based Materials, School of Light Industry and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
Carbohydr Polym. 2025 Nov 15;368(Pt 2):124175. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2025.124175. Epub 2025 Aug 11.
The chiral helical structure with adjustable structural color constructed by layered self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) is eye-catching. However, the highly-ordered periodic framework of traditional CNC chiral structure exhibits strong iridescent characteristics in macroscopic structural colors, severely limiting the development of CNC in non-iridescent fields. Herein, a novel method for constructing CNC chiral structure with non-iridescent properties by controlling the CNC assembly trajectory through molecular constraints of cationic polyacrylamide is innovatively proposed, successfully breaking the iridescent optical limitations of traditional CNC chiral structure. It is worth noting that, in combination with molecular docking technology, the important role of energy regulation in CNC self-assembly system for constructing CNC non-iridescent structures has been revealed for the first time. Interestingly, CPAM 1.5 % chiral film not only eliminates the angle dependent optical properties of traditional CNC chiral structure, but also exhibits efficient separation of circularly polarized light. In addition, based on its excellent non-iridescent properties and mechanical properties, CPAM chiral films have been further developed for applications in optical encoding encryption and solvent recognition. We believe that this work will open up new theoretical and application channels for the development of CNC chiral structure in non-iridescent optics.
通过纤维素纳米晶体（CNC）的层状自组装构建的具有可调结构颜色的手性螺旋结构引人注目。然而，传统CNC手性结构的高度有序周期性框架在宏观结构颜色中表现出强烈的虹彩特性，严重限制了CNC在非虹彩领域的发展。在此，创新性地提出了一种通过阳离子聚丙烯酰胺的分子约束来控制CNC组装轨迹，构建具有非虹彩特性的CNC手性结构的新方法，成功突破了传统CNC手性结构的虹彩光学限制。值得注意的是，结合分子对接技术，首次揭示了能量调控在构建CNC非虹彩结构的CNC自组装体系中的重要作用。有趣的是，1.5%的CPAM手性薄膜不仅消除了传统CNC手性结构的角度依赖性光学性质，还表现出对圆偏振光的高效分离。此外，基于其优异的非虹彩特性和机械性能，CPAM手性薄膜已进一步开发用于光学编码加密和溶剂识别应用。我们相信这项工作将为CNC手性结构在非虹彩光学领域的发展开辟新的理论和应用渠道。
