Bioinspired, electroactive colorable and additive manufactured photonic artificial muscle

Structural coloration in biomimetic nanostructures has remarkable application potentials in vivid display devices, but its color change effect is still insufficiently competitive towards biology. Inspired by the feather color change...

Polylactic Acid Nanonetworks as High Reflectance Distributed Bragg Reflectors

Natural systems found ways to exploit light at the nanoscale, devising complex 3D structures that behave as photonic crystals, able to produce structural coloration. Distributed Bragg reflectors are a particular...

Self-assembly of photonic crystals by controlling the nucleation and growth of DNA-coated colloids

DNA-coated colloids can self-assemble into an incredible diversity of crystal structures, but their applications have been limited by poor understanding and control over the crystallization dynamics. To address this challenge, we use microfluidics to quantify the kinetics of DNA-programmed self-assembly along the entire crystallization pathway, from thermally activated nucleation through reaction-limited and diffusion-limited phases of crystal growth. Our detailed measurements of the temperature and concentration dependence of the kinetics at all stages of crystallization provide a stringent test of classical theories of nucleation and growth. After accounting for the finite rolling and sliding rates of micrometer-sized DNA-coated colloids, we show that modified versions of these classical theories predict the absolute nucleation and growth rates with quantitative accuracy. We conclude by applying our model to design and demonstrate protocols for assembling large single crystals with pronounced structural coloration, an essential step in creating next-generation optical metamaterials from colloids.

Evaluation of the Repolished Surface Properties of a Resin Composite Employing Structural Coloration Technology

Resin composites employing structural coloration have recently been developed. These resins match to various tooth shades despite being a single paste. To accomplish this, the filler and base resin are tightly bonded, which is thought to provide excellent discoloration resistance. Here, we investigated the surface properties of one of these resins, including the discoloration of the repolished surface. We developed an innovative in vitro method to adjust the repolished surface, in which structural degradation is removed according to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation rather than by the naked eye. The resin samples (20 mm (length) × 10 mm (width) × 4 mm (depth)) were manufactured using this resin material. After accelerated aging of the resin by alkaline degradation, the resin was repolished and the discoloration (ΔE*ab), surface roughness (the arithmetic mean roughness (Ra)), and glossiness (the 60° specular) were measured. SEM observation showed that the appearance of the bond between the organic composite filler and base resin on the repolished surface was different from that on the mirror-polished surface. This revealed that according to our in vitro method it was difficult to make the repolished surface structurally identical to the mirror-polished surface. Among the properties of the repolished surface, the degree of discoloration did not change despite the rougher and less glossy surface. It can be concluded that the factors that induce discoloration in this resin composite are independent of the surface roughness and glossiness.

Melanin-based structural coloration of birds and its biomimetic applications

Melanin has been a widely researched pigment by scientists for decades as it is undoubtedly the most ubiquitous and ancient pigment found in nature. Melanin plays very significant roles in structural plumage colors in birds: it has visible light-absorbing capabilities, and nanoscale structures can be formed by self-assembling melanin granules. Herein, we review recent progress on melanin-based structural coloration research. We hope that this review will provide current understanding of melanin’s structural and optical properties, natural coloration mechanisms, and biomimetic methods to implement artificial melanin-based structural colors.