Journal
ADVANCED MATERIALS
Volume 34, Issue 31, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202203300
Keywords
chitin; liquid crystals; nanocrystals; self-assembly; structural color
Categories
Funding
- European Research Council [ERC-2017-POC 790518]
- BBSRC [BB/K014617/1, BB/V00364X/1]
- EPSRC [EP/N509620/1, EP/L015978/1]
- Marie Skodowska-Curie Grant [722842]
- Lord Lewis Research Studentship in Chemistry, Erasmus + traineeship [NLMAASTRI01]
- BBSRC [BB/V00364X/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Marie Curie Actions (MSCA) [722842] Funding Source: Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)
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This study demonstrated the fabrication of chitin-based films with tunable reflection color by controlling the preparation conditions of chitin nanocrystals.
The structural coloration of arthropods often arises from helicoidal structures made primarily of chitin. Although it is possible to achieve analogous helicoidal architectures by exploiting the self-assembly of chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs), to date no evidence of structural coloration has been reported from such structures. Previous studies are identified to have been constrained by both the experimental inability to access sub-micrometer helicoidal pitches and the intrinsically low birefringence of crystalline chitin. To expand the range of accessible pitches, here, ChNCs are isolated from two phylogenetically distinct sources of alpha-chitin, namely fungi and shrimp, while to increase the birefringence, an in situ alkaline treatment is performed, increasing the intensity of the reflected color by nearly two orders of magnitude. By combining this treatment with precise control over ChNC suspension formulation, structurally colored chitin-based films are demonstrated with reflection tunable from blue to near infrared.
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