Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Fengxiang Chen, Ya Huang, Run Li, Shiliang Zhang, Baoshun Wang, Wenshuo Zhang, Xueke Wu, Qinyuan Jiang, Fei Wang, Rufan Zhang
Summary: Structural colors, generated through the interaction of interference, diffraction, and scattering with nanostructured surfaces, have attracted significant interest. Despite advancements, challenges like durability, compatibility, and recyclability persist, prompting the need for rational design and novel manufacturing strategies.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Lijun Cai, Yu Wang, Dongyu Xu, Hanxu Chen, Yuanjin Zhao
Summary: This article proposes a novel type of pigment, called dual color variation pigments (PDCVs), by integrating hydrophobic carbon dots (HCDs) within photonic crystal (PhC) particles. These PDCVs can exhibit dual color variations, fluorescence and structural color, by changing the surrounding solvent. They have the potential to be applied in information encryption, displaying, anti-counterfeiting, and other fields.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yu Bu, Weihui Ou, Xiuming Bu, Xufen Xiao, Yingxian Chen, Zhengyi Mao, Jian Lu
Summary: Inspired by beetle forewings' structure, a new method is proposed to construct asymmetric Fabry-Perot (F-P) angular heterochromatic structural colors utilizing homologous materials. The fabricated large-area reflective filters not only have high color saturation but also exhibit good bonding ability between the layers. Different colors such as blue, yellow, violet, and green can be achieved, in agreement with simulation results. This work provides a new design method for advanced decorative applications and offers protection to the substrate.
ADVANCED OPTICAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Nguyen Xuan Viet Lan, Jeongbin Moon, Tae Hui Kang, Ke Wang, Hong-Gyu Park, Gi-Ra Yi
Summary: Composite colloidal crystal films were prepared to demonstrate strong reflection colors while maintaining high optical transparency by adjusting the core-to-shell volume ratio for refractive index matching. Bicolored reflective films were successfully prepared by stacking two different colloidal crystal films, and patterned composite photonic crystals were fabricated through selective photopolymerization for multicolored films, showing potential applications in reflective displays, encryption, and optical identification.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Xiaoru Liu, Junfu Liu, Boru Wei, Dongpeng Yang, Li Luo, Dekun Ma, Shaoming Huang
Summary: Inspired by chameleon skins, ZnS-silica photonic crystals with tunable colors are fabricated. They show intense reflectance, wide photonic bandgaps, and large peak areas due to large refractive index contrast and non-close-packing structure. By adjusting particle volume fraction, colors can be easily tuned, and a lower thickness threshold is required for maximal reflectance compared to silica crystals. Various photonic superstructures can be created using the core-shell structure of the particles. A new information encryption technique based on reversible disorder-order switch of water-responsive photonic superstructures is developed. ZnS-silica crystals also enhance fluorescence significantly.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Han Liu, Long Yu, Bingqian Zhao, Yezhou Ni, Peng Gu, Hua Qiu, Wan Zhang, Kunlin Chen
Summary: A hybrid hydrogel with self-healing ability and environmental responsiveness has been developed in this study. This hydrogel exhibits excellent sensing and color-changing properties, making it suitable for monitoring human actions in wearable devices. The damaged parts of the hydrogel can self-repair due to the strong bonds among the polyacrylate, zinc ions, and microcapsules. Additionally, the hydrogel undergoes rapid color change under thermal or UV stimulus, enabling monitoring of human physiological health and achieving adaptive camouflage. This smart hybrid hydrogel has promising applications in human body monitoring, safety warning, adaptive camouflage, and artificial intelligence for wearable electronic devices.
JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Yulian Wang, Yahui Peng, Chao Wang, Yao Le, Chengjia Xiong
Summary: A combination of hollow melanosomes and carbon black is proposed to mimic hollow melanosomes for the fabrication of amorphous photonic structures (APSs) and non-iridescent structural colors. The APSs show a wide range of structural colors and reflection peaks, which can be controlled by adjusting the diameters of hollow melanosomes, the amount of carbon black, and the mixing ratios. The APSs demonstrate high sensitivity in visual detection for chemicals with similar refractive indices and have potential applications in display, visual detection, information encryption, and anti-counterfeiting.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Ran Bi, Xiaohong Li, Xingcheng Ou, Jiaqi Huang, Dantong Huang, Guoliang Chen, Yu Sheng, Wei Hong, Yan Wang, Weijie Hu, Shuang-Zhuang Guo
Summary: A novel strategy for printing cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) into complex structural color patterns with variable resolution and enhanced expansibility is reported. The introduction of a volatile solvent into the synthesized CLC oligomers allows for direct-ink-writing (DIW) under mild conditions. The authors have successfully achieved resolution control over a wide range and printed multi-sized 1D or 2D patterns with constant quality. Furthermore, the solvent-cast DIW strategy is highly expandable and has potential applications in the fabrication of bionic robots.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tonghui Jin, Ye Yuan, Massimo Bagnani, Chao Wu, Bin Liu, Raffaele Mezzenga
Summary: The helical periodicity and layered structure in cholesteric liquid crystals can generate structural color according to the Bragg's law of diffraction. This study reports the possibility of using amyloid cholesteric liquid crystals to prepare films with iridescent color reflection and opposite handedness. The color effects vary with the drying speed, and the color originates from the layered structures of the amyloid cholesteric liquid crystals.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jinrong Liu, Mathias Nero, Kjell Jansson, Tom Willhammar, Mika H. Sipponen
Summary: Photonic crystals with rainbow structural colors have been successfully fabricated through centrifugation-assisted assembly of lignin nanoparticles. The centrifugation process serves to classify the nanoparticles and produce monodispersed layers, resulting in gradient colors. The dynamic rearrangement of the lignin nanoparticles during assembly into semi-closed structures is crucial for the formation of photonic crystals.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Jiahua Ni, Shaoting Lin, Zhao Qin, David Veysset, Xinyue Liu, Yuchen Sun, Alex J. Hsieh, Raul Radovitzky, Keith A. Nelson, Xuanhe Zhao
Summary: Nanofibrous hydrogels are commonly found in animal and plant bodies, and widely used in engineering applications. This study presents a bioinspired design for creating strong and fatigue-resistant nanofibrous hydrogels that mimic the natural bouligand structure, achieving high strength and toughness properties.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yuanyuan Jiang, Jie Wang, Hui Zhang, Guopu Chen, Yuanjin Zhao
Summary: In this research, a novel bionic hydrogel was developed by crosslinking natural platelet and alginate through covalent amidation for wound healing. The platelet-derived hydrogel exhibited excellent biocompatibility and blood compatibility, and could be customized for different wound environments. Silver nanoparticles could also be loaded into the hydrogel, providing superior anti-infective properties. The bio-inspired platelet hydrogel showed potential values in clinical applications by promoting hemostasis, preventing bacterial proliferation, and facilitating tissue healing.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jeroen A. H. P. Sol, Luc G. Smits, Albert P. H. J. Schenning, Michael G. Debije
Summary: This article reports the synthesis of a humidity-sensitive cholesteric liquid crystal oligomer ink and demonstrates its use in additive manufacturing, specifically 4D printing. The ink allows the printing of objects with responsive and structural color properties, such as color change and preprogrammed deformation, in response to atmospheric humidity.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Yuanlai Fang, Xinhong Xiong, Li Yang, Wanyou Yang, Hong Wang, Qian Wu, Qianwei Liu, Jiaxi Cui
Summary: A class of adhesion-switchable hydrogels is designed by combining the adhesion strategies of the gecko's toe and the snail's epiphragm. The hydrogels, made of CH3COONa·3H2O salt incorporated into polyacrylamide aqueous networks, exhibit excellent adhesive performance and mechanical properties due to crystallization. The stimuli-induced crystallization from these hydrogels can release heat controllably, making them suitable for thermochromic materials and thermotherapy.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Momoko Kobori, Yuna Hirano, Mikako Tanaka, Toshimitsu Kanai
Summary: This paper reports a practical method for preparing elastomer-immobilized nonclose-packed colloidal photonic crystal films with various uniform Bragg reflection colors using one kind of gel-immobilized nonclose-packed colloidal photonic crystal film. The degree of swelling was controlled by the mixing ratio of the precursor solutions, enabling the facile preparation of elastomer-immobilized nonclose-packed colloidal photonic crystal films with various uniform colors via subsequent photopolymerization. The present preparation method can contribute to the development of practical applications of elastomer-immobilized tunable colloidal photonic crystals and sensors.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Feika Bian, Lingyu Sun, Lijun Cai, Yu Wang, Yuanjin Zhao
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lijun Cai, Cheng Zhao, Hanxu Chen, Lu Fan, Yuanjin Zhao, Xiaoyun Qian, Renjie Chai
Summary: This study introduces a suction-cup-inspired micromotor for drug delivery in the stomach, showcasing ideal therapeutic effects through its adhesive properties and unique structure, with potential to advance its clinical applications.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Huan Wang, Lijun Cai, Dagan Zhang, Luoran Shang, Yuanjin Zhao
Summary: The research developed structural color micromotors for label-free multiplex assay, achieving high detection efficiency. These micromotors can realize multiplex label-free detection of ions based on their optical coding capacity and responsive behaviors, with improved detection sensitivity due to their autonomous motion.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Xiaoxuan Zhang, Guopu Chen, Lijun Cai, Lu Fan, Yuanjin Zhao
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ning Li, Feika Bian, Xiaowei Wei, Lijun Cai, Hongcheng Gu, Yuanjin Zhao, Luoran Shang
Summary: Pollen-inspired photonic crystal barcodes with prickly surface have been developed to effectively capture and screen exosomes, improving detection sensitivity and enabling multiplex detection. These barcodes are ideal for exosome analysis in medical diagnosis.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lijun Cai, Zhiqiang Luo, Hanxu Chen, Yuanjin Zhao
Summary: Microneedle-motors (MNMs) for active drug delivery are developed using a flexible multimodal microfluidic lithographic approach. The MNMs, with sharp tips and spherical fuel-loading cavities, are continuously obtained from microfluidics with the assistance of flow lithography. The structural parameters of the MNMs can be precisely tailored by adjusting the flow speed or the shape of the photomask. These MNMs demonstrate efficient penetration of tissue-like substrates, indicating their potential in overcoming physiological barriers for cargo release. These findings highlight the value of multimodal microfluidic lithographic MNMs in biomedical and other relevant areas.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lijun Cai, Guopu Chen, Lingyu Sun, Shuangshuang Miao, Luoran Shang, Yuanjin Zhao, Lingyun Sun
Summary: A novel micromotor delivery system with rocket-like architecture and effervescent-tablets-derived fuel was developed for efficient oral macromolecule delivery. The micromotors, inspired by rockets, feature sharp needle tips for loading and efficient penetrating, and tail wings for loading effervescent powders and avoiding perforation. When exposed to a water environment, the effervescent fuel generates CO2 bubbles to propel the micromotors, allowing them to inject into the surrounding mucosa for drug release. These micromotors showed efficacy in regulating blood sugar glucose in a diabetic rabbit model, indicating their potential for clinical oral delivery of macromolecules.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Lijun Cai, Feika Bian, Lingyu Sun, Huan Wang, Yuanjin Zhao
