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Transparent Polymer Opal Thin Films with Intense UV Structural Color

We report on shear-ordered polymer photonic crystals demonstrating intense structural color with a photonic bandgap at 270 nm. Our work examines this UV structural color, originating from a low refractive index contrast polymer composite system as a function of the viewing angle. We report extensive...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Rosetta, Giselle, Gunn, Matthew, Tomes, John J., Butters, Mike, Pieschel, Jens, Hartmann, Frank, Gallei, Markus, Finlayson, Chris E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9230526/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35744899
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules27123774
Descripción
Sumario:We report on shear-ordered polymer photonic crystals demonstrating intense structural color with a photonic bandgap at 270 nm. Our work examines this UV structural color, originating from a low refractive index contrast polymer composite system as a function of the viewing angle. We report extensive characterization of the angle-dependent nature of this color in the form of ‘scattering cones’, which showed strong reflectivity in the 275–315 nm range. The viewing range of the scattering was fully quantified for a number of planes and angles, and we additionally discuss the unique spectral anisotropy observed in these structures. Such films could serve as low-cost UV reflection coatings with applications in photovoltaics due to the fact of their non-photobleaching and robust mechanical behavior in addition to their favorable optical properties.