Journal Article

Modular Assembly of Mechanoresponsive Color‐Changing Materials from Hydrogel‐Based Photonic Crystal Microspheres

Isapour, Golnaz, Kolle, Mathias, Miller, Benjamin Harvey

2022

Overview

Mechanoresponsive, soft, photonic materials with tunable structural coloration represent a class of materials that have potential benefits for a wide range of applications. While many lab‐scale fabrication approaches afford control over the nano‐ and microscale morphology of these materials, upscaling their manufacture remains a challenge. Herein, a scalable fabrication concept is proposed that centers on the modular assembly of color‐changing materials from microscale building blocks. The building blocks consist of hydrogel‐based spherical photonic crystals. They are formed through a water‐in‐oil emulsification of nanoscale colloidal particles suspended in the aqueous phase. Once formed, the photonic crystal microspheres are then assembled into macroscale photonic materials, such as stretchable fibers or sheets. The resulting materials respond to a mechanical deformation with a reversible, dynamic change in color. Fabricated via a scalable, modular‐assembly approach, these mechanoresponsive photonic fibers and sheets, in turn, form a valuable building block for sensing systems or visual communication in healthcare, architecture, and consumer product design. Macroscale production of mechanoresponsive color‐changing materials is achieved by utilizing hydrogel‐based photonic microspheres as building blocks for the modular design of stretchable photonic fibers and sheets. The resulting soft photonic materials exhibit a dynamic change in color when subjected to mechanical deformation.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,Wiley-VCH
• Subject: Color / Crystals / Deformation / Design / hydrogel-based colloidal crystals / Hydrogels / Manufacturing / mechanoresponsive photonic materials / modular assembly / Nanocrystals / Nanoparticles / photonic hydrogel microspheres / Sensors / structural hierarchy