Reversible Light-, Thermo-, and Mechano-Responsive Elastomeric Polymer Opal Films

Abstract

A new strategy to achieve easily scalable triple stimuli-responsive elastomeric opal films for applications as stretch-tunable photonic band gap materials is reported. Novel monodisperse highly functional core-interlayer-shell beads are obtained by semicontinuous emulsion polymerization featuring a temperature-sensitive fluorescent rhodamine dye either locally restricted in the core or the shell of prepared beads. After extrusion and compression molding, homogeneous elastomeric opal films with fascinating stretch-tunable and temperature-dependent fluorescent properties can be obtained. Applying strains of only a few percent lead to significant blue shift of the reflected colors making these films excellent candidates for applications as deformation sensors. Higher strains up to 90% lead to a tremendous Bragg reflection color change caused by transition from the (111) to the (200) lattice plane. The well-ordered opaline structure with its stop band at the emission frequency of the incorporated fluorescent dye shows remarkable angle-dependent fluorescence suppression. Herein described elastomeric opal films can be valuable in a wide range of applications such as rewritable 3D optical data storage, tunable laser action, and sensing materials.

Photonic Patterns Printed in Chiral Nematic Mesoporous Resins

“…Traditional lithographic patterning is complex, time consuming, and costly for large-scale generation and hence prohibitive for many applications. Because of that, self-assembly of colloidal particles has been widely explored and used to prepare patterned photonic structures through magnetic alignment, [15] extrusion and compression molding, [16] capillary force-induced infiltration, [17] or triphase microfluidic-directed assembly [18] followed by fixation in a polymer host. Patterning by the self-assembly of colloidal particles is limited by characteristics of the template and a multi-step fabrication procedure.…”

A stimuli-responsive double-stranded digold(i) helicate

“…Spectral corrections were applied using excitation and emission correction functions of the instrument. The solid-state room temperature emission studies were conducted on finely ground 5 powder samples placed on a Quartz Suprasil plate in a front face sample holder. Photoluminescence spectra of II G were recorded on crystals placed with a small amount of mother liquor in a 5 mm quartz tube.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The subsequent reversion to their original luminescence colour is usually achieved upon recrystallization or thermal treatment. [1][2][3][4][5][9][10][11] These materials have attracted increased attention because of their potential 55 applications in optical storage and memories, mechanical sensors, displacement and deformation detectors, optoelectronic and display devices. 1 Such materials could also serve as models for studying the luminescent colour changes associated with structural changes of their molecular assemblies that switch from 60 one state to another under mechanical stimuli.…”

Nanoassembly of Polydisperse Photonic Crystals Based on Binary and Ternary Polymer Opal Alloys

“…The components used in our experiments are hard-core/soft-shell spheres of three distinct outer radii. [16,17] These radii of 92nm, 110nm, and 130nm (with polydispersity for each size of 2-4%) therefore access diameter ratios from D S/L = 0.71-0.85, far beyond the limits for previous colloidal alloys. Since the single-size PO 3 components used give photonic stop bands in the blue, green, and red parts of the spectrum, the three components are denoted as B, G, and R respectively going from small to large (Figure 1).…”