Structural color from solid-state polymerization-induced phase separation

Structural colors are produced by wavelength-dependent scattering of light from nanostructures. While living organisms often exploit phase separation to directly assemble structurally colored materials from macromolecules, synthetic structural colors are typically produced in a two-step process invo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2021-06, Vol.17 (23), p.5772-5779
Main Authors: Sicher, Alba, Ganz, Rabea, Menzel, Andreas, Messmer, Daniel, Panzarasa, Guido, Feofilova, Maria, Prum, Richard O, Style, Robert W, Saranathan, Vinodkumar, Rossi, René M, Dufresne, Eric R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomimetics
Color
Filaments
Macromolecules
Monomers
Nanostructure
Phase separation
Polymerization
Polymers
Robust control
Solid state
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Summary:Structural colors are produced by wavelength-dependent scattering of light from nanostructures. While living organisms often exploit phase separation to directly assemble structurally colored materials from macromolecules, synthetic structural colors are typically produced in a two-step process involving the sequential synthesis and assembly of building blocks. Phase separation is attractive for its simplicity, but applications are limited due to a lack of robust methods for its control. A central challenge is to arrest phase separation at the desired length scale. Here, we show that solid-state polymerization-induced phase separation can produce stable structures at optical length scales. In this process, a polymeric solid is swollen and softened with a second monomer. During its polymerization, the two polymers become immiscible and phase separate. As free monomer is depleted, the host matrix resolidifies and arrests coarsening. The resulting polymeric composites have a blue or white appearance. We compare these biomimetic nanostructures to those in structurally-colored feather barbs, and demonstrate the flexibility of this approach by producing structural color in filaments and large sheets. Inspired by living organisms that exploit phase separation to assemble structurally colored materials from macromolecules, we show that solid-state polymerization-induced phase separation can produce stable structures at optical length scales.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d1sm00210d