Organisms in nature have evolved unique structural colors and stimuli‐responsive functions for camouflage, warning, and communication over millions of years, which are essential to their survival in harsh conditions. Inspired by these characteristics, colloidal photonic composites (CPCs) composed of colloidal photonic crystals embedded in the polymeric matrix are artificially prepared and show great promise in applications. This review focuses on the summary of building blocks, i.e., colloidal particles and polymeric matrices, and constructive strategies from the perspective of designing CPCs with robust performance and specific functionality. Furthermore, their state‐of‐the‐art applications are also discussed, including colorful coatings, anti‐counterfeiting, and regulation of photoluminescence, especially in the field of visualized sensing. Finally, current challenges and potential for future developments in this field are discussed. The purpose of this review is not only to clarify the design principle for artificial CPCs but also to serve as a roadmap for the exploration of next‐generation photonic materials.
PEs, broad-spectrum responsiveness (stopband shifting ≈223 nm) and excellent recovery properties under a large strain can be achieved. The dynamic and reversible interaction endows the PEs with a healable capability. More interestingly, the incorporated Fe 3 O 4 @C NPs with photothermal capability can effectively absorb light and convert it into heat under light irradiation (solar light or nearinfrared laser), accelerating healing of the damaged PEs. This study provides a new strategy for bioinspired construction of PEs for applications in the fields of sensing, colorful coating, and display.
Harvesting energy from moist in the atmosphere has recently been demonstrated as an effective manner for a portable power supply to meet the ever-increasing demands of energy consumption. Porous materials are shown to have great potential in moist-induced electricity generation. Herein, we report moist-induced electricity generation by electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) membranes with optimized porous structures. We show that the pore size and porosity of CA membranes can be readily tuned via a facile compression and annealing process, and the effect of pore features on the output voltages can thus be investigated systematically. We find that, at a relatively high porosity, the electricity-generation performance can be further enhanced by constructing a smaller pore to form more nanochannels. Porous CA membranes, with an optimized porosity of 52.6% and a pore diameter less than 250 nm, are prepared to construct moist-induced electricity generators, which can be applied as breath sensors and can power up calculator operation. The current study provides insights for the construction of porous materials with different pore characteristics for moist-induced electricity generation, especially in the exploration of more efficient and low-cost porous materials for large-scale practical application of the portable power supply.
conductors (e.g., hydrogels, [6] and ionogels [7] ), have been designed. Among these signal conductors, ionic conductors offer great potential in wearable sensing applications because of their various skin-like features, including flexible and stretchable natures, relatively high conductivity, and stimuli-responsiveness to the environment. [8] Especially, ionogels have recently attracted considerable attention due to their broad working temperature range, high ionic conductivity, nonvolatility, high thermal-, electrochemical-, and chemical stability, and nonflammability. [9] Ionogels are solid composites based on ionic liquids (ILs) and polymeric 3D networks. [10] Ionogels have been used in flexible electronics, such as energy storage and conversion devices, [11] actuators, [12] and sensors [13] . Ren et al. reported an IL-based click-ionogel that can stretch 13 times the original length and work over a wide temperature range (from −75 °C to 340 °C), which could be applied in flexible and sensing devices. [7a] Cao et al. fabricated an ionogel with transparency, mechanical robustness, and high stability through hydrogen bonding between poly(ethyl acrylate)-based elastomers and bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) -based ILs, which can be used as a sensor to monitor mechanical motion. [7c] Although ionogels exhibited promising applications as strain sensors, they primarily provide a single electrical sensing signal, which cannot satisfy the increasing demands of intelligent interactive devices.Some organisms (e.g., chameleon, [14] cuttlefish, [15] leaf-tailed gecko, [16] and flatfish [17] ) can employ their skin as interactive interfaces, which can interact with the surroundings by color change for camouflage, communication, and courtship. [18] For example, when perceiving danger, chameleons can transmit the bioelectrical signal to the brain nerves to keep the body still and change skin colors simultaneously through tuning the lattice array of guanine nanocrystals inside iridophores, to give visual feedback to the surrounding ecosystem. [14] These superstructures within specialized cells form photonic crystals that can reflect a specific wavelength of incident light to display structural color. [19] By mimicking these color-changeable biological skins, some photonic crystal sensors with conductive capabilities have been prepared by incorporating electrical or ionic conductors, providing additional visual and intuitive signal With the ever-growing demands for flexible smart interactive electronics, it remains highly desirable yet challenging to design and fabricate interactive ionic skin with multiple signal synergistic outputs. Herein, high-performance photonic ionogels (PIGs) with excellent stability and synergy sensitivity are designed by locking a non-volatile and non-hygroscopic ionic liquid (IL), that is, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis-(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([EMIm] [TFSI]), into photonic elastomers based on polymer networks of poly(ethylene glycol) phenyl ether acrylate (PEGPEA). Through m...
Solar steam generation provides a promising and low-cost solution for freshwater production in energy scarcity areas. However, in real-world applications, evaporators are easily affected by microorganism contamination in source water, causing surface corrosion, structural damage, or even invalidation. Developing anti-biofouling and antibacterial evaporators is significant for long-term stable freshwater production. Herein, a composite polyelectrolyte photothermal hydrogel consisting of sulfobetaine methacrylate (SBMA), [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (METAC), and polypyrrole (PPy) with anti-biofouling and antibacterial properties is developed. Crediting sufficient ammonium groups and zwitterionic segments, the optimized polyelectrolyte hydrogel exhibits an ∼90% antibacterial ratio against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) and effectively controls biological contamination. Under 1.0 kW m–2 solar irradiation, a rapid water evaporation rate of ∼1.690 kg m–2 h–1 and a high solar-to-evaporation efficiency of ∼95.94% are achieved with the photothermal hydrogel. We show that a lab-made setup integrated with the hydrogel can realize ∼0.455 kg m–2 h–1 freshwater production from seawater under natural sunlight. Moreover, the hydrogel exhibits excellent durability with a stable evaporation rate of ∼1.617 kg m–2 h–1 in real seawater for over 6 weeks, making it fullhearted in the real-world application of solar steam generation.
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