Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 13, Issue 28, Pages 33566-33573Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c09533
Keywords
solar detector; photothermal effect; hydrogels; structural color; photonic crystals
Funding
- Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province [tsqn201909117]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21802074, 11604155]
- Youth Science and Technology Talent Promotion Project of Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology
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In this study, photothermal materials are combined with temperature-sensitive hydrogels and structural colors to visually detect solar intensity. The photothermal layer absorbs sunlight and transfers the heat to the hydrogel, leading to a color change in the hydrogel which can be used to detect solar intensity.
In this work, photothermal materials are integrated with a temperature-sensitive hydrogel and structural color for visually detecting solar intensity. Inspired by the functional performance of beetles, the photothermal layer is constructed by depositing candle soot on a film of Cu nanoparticles, while the temperature-sensitive colored hydrogel is fabricated by self-assembling colloidal photonic crystals on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM). The deposition of candle soot not only improves the photothermal performance but also leads to a superhydrophobic surface with a self-cleaning function. The photothermal layer absorbs sunlight and converts it into heat, which is then transferred to the hydrogel. The structural color of the hydrogel changes due to the heat-induced volume shrinkage. As the solar intensity increases from 0.62 to 1.27 kW/m(2), the structural color conspicuously changes from red to orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue, with reflection peaks shifting from 640 to 460 nm accordingly. The color change is highly apparent, which can be easily observed by the naked eye, suggesting that the solar intensity can be easily detected by reading out the structural color. This power-free and self-cleaning solar sensor can work for a long period without maintenance, which is suitable for a wide application prospect, such as smart home and agriculture.
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