Strain-Tunable One Dimensional Photonic Crystals Based on Zirconium Dioxide/Slide-Ring Elastomer Nanocomposites for Mechanochromic Sensing

Howell, Irene; Li, Cheng; Colella, Nicholas S.; Ito, Kohzo; Watkins, James J.

doi:10.1021/am5079946

Cited by 89 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As shown inFigure 5b, the refractive index of PEO/NP (n PEO/NP ) increased linearly (R 2 = 0.986) with the increasing NP volume fraction (f NP ) according to the Eq. consistent with our previous observation of a linear relationship between NP loading and the refractive index of the resulting blends 57. A refractive index of up to 1.70 was observed at 400 nm for a PEO/NP blend containing 70 wt%(42 vol%) NPs.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…[56][57] Our group recently reported the successful fabrication of strain-tunable 1D PhCs based on slide-ring elastomer nanocomposites containing commercially available ZrO 2 NPs. 57 However, the fabrication process requires multiple steps of spin-coating and curing and is time consuming when making large area coatings. In this work, we aim to create 1D PhCs via self-assembly of BBCP-based nanocomposites using ZrO 2 NPs to tune optical constants of the target domains over broad ranges.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Block Copolymer Nanocomposites with High Refractive Index Contrast for One-Step Photonics

et al. 2016

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Photonic crystals (PhCs) prepared using the self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) offer the potential for simple and rapid device fabrication but typically suffer from low refractive index contrast (Δn ≤ 0.1) between the phase-segregated domains. Here, we report the simple fabrication of BCP-based photonic nanocomposites with large differences in refractive index (Δn > 0.27). Zirconium oxide (ZrO2) nanoparticles coated with gallic acid are used to tune the optical constants of the target domains of self-assembled (polynorbornene-graft-poly(tert-butyl acrylate))-block-(polynorbornene-graft-poly(ethylene oxide)) (PtBA-b-PEO) brush block copolymers (BBCPs). Strong hydrogen-bonding interactions between the ligands on ZrO2 and PEO brushes of the BBCPs enable selective incorporation and high loading of up to 70 wt % (42 vol %) of the ZrO2 nanoparticles within the PEO domain, resulting in a significant increase of refractive index from 1.45 to up to 1.70. Consequently, greatly enhanced reflection at approximately 398 nm (increases of ∼250%) was observed for the photonic nanocomposites (domain spacing = 137 nm) relative to that of the unmodified BBCPs, which is consistent with numeric modeling results using transfer matrix methods. This work provides a simple strategy for a wide range tuning of optical constants of BCP domains, thereby enabling the design and creation of high-performance photonic coatings for various applications. The large refractive index contrast enables high reflectivity while simultaneously reducing the coating thickness necessary, compared to pure BCP systems.

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confidence: 92%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Block Copolymer Nanocomposites with High Refractive Index Contrast for One-Step Photonics

et al. 2016

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“…This structure‐dependent color is extremely beneficial as it can be tuned, will not fade and does not require the use of toxic dyes . The integration of photonic crystals into elastomers enables their color to be manipulated with the application of mechanical stress, producing materials with dynamic optical properties, which have potential applications as mechanical sensors, optical coatings, soft displays and biosensors . The majority of the research on photonic crystal elastomers has employed synthetic opals, such as SiO 2 and polystyrene, and inverse opals as the photonic crystal component .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellulose Nanocrystal Elastomers with Reversible Visible Color

et al. 2019

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Responsive photonic crystals have potential applications in mechanical sensors and soft displays; however, new materials are constantly desired to provide new innovations and improve on existing technologies. To address this, we report stretchable chiral nematic cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) elastomer composites that exhibit reversible visible color upon the application of mechanical stress. When stretched (or compressed) the colorless materials maintain their chiral nematic structure but the helical pitch is reduced into the visible region, resulting in coloration of the CNC‐elastomer composite. By increasing the percentage elongation of the material (ca. 50–300 %), the structural color can be tuned from red to blue. The color of the materials was characterized by reflectance optical microscopy and reflectance circular dichroism to confirm the wavelength and polarization of the reflected light. We also probed the mechanism of the structural color using 2D‐X‐ray diffraction. Finally, by either water‐patterning the starting CNC film, or by forming a CNC film with gradient color, through masked evaporation, we were able to prepare encoded stretchable chiral nematic CNC‐elastomers.

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“…This property gives rise to a useful method for the low-power reflective mode visualization of strain (Table S1, Supporting information) [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] . In particular, SCs based on self-assembled block copolymers (BCPs) are more suitable, as their periodicities and dielectric constants are readily changed by mechanical forces such as shear, tensile, and compressive forces 24,25,29 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Block copolymer structural color strain sensor

et al. 2018

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The development of electrically responsive sensors based on the capacitance, voltage, and resistance that can detect and simultaneou sly visualize the large strain involved with human motion is in great demand. Here, we demonstrate a highly stretchable, large strain capacitive sensor that can visualize strain based on the strain-responsive structural color (SC). Our device contains an elastomeric sensing film that produces a capacitance change under strain, in which a selfassembled block copolymer (BCP) photonic crystal (PC) film with 1D periodic in-plane lamellae aligned parallel to the film surface is embedded for the efficient visualization of strain. The capacitance change arises from changes in the dimensions of the elastomer film under strain. The mechanochromic BCP PC film responds to strain, giving rise to an SC change with strain. The initial red SC of the sensor blueshifts and turns blue when the sensor is stretched to 100%, resulting in a full-color SC alteration as a function of the strain. Our BCP SC strain sensor exhibits a fast strain response with multi-cycle reliability of both the capacitance and SC changes over 1000 cycles. This property allows for efficient visible recognition not only of the strained positions during finger bending and poking with a sharp object but also of the shapes of the strained objects.

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Strain-Tunable One Dimensional Photonic Crystals Based on Zirconium Dioxide/Slide-Ring Elastomer Nanocomposites for Mechanochromic Sensing

Cited by 89 publications

References 27 publications

Block Copolymer Nanocomposites with High Refractive Index Contrast for One-Step Photonics

Block Copolymer Nanocomposites with High Refractive Index Contrast for One-Step Photonics

Cellulose Nanocrystal Elastomers with Reversible Visible Color

Block copolymer structural color strain sensor

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