2021/01/27 by Alba Sicher, Sicher, Alba, Rabea Ganz +19
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Materials Science · #Biocrusts and Microbial Ecology #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Pickering emulsions and particle stabilization #Proteins in Food Systems #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2101.11345
openalex publication_date 2021/01/27 · openalex created_date 2022/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Structural colors are produced by wavelength-dependent scattering of light\nfrom nanostructures. While living organisms often exploit phase separation to\ndirectly assemble structurally colored materials from macromolecules, synthetic\nstructural colors are typically produced in a two-step process involving the\nsequential synthesis and assembly of building blocks. Phase separation is\nattractive for its simplicity, but applications are limited due to a lack of\nrobust methods for its control. A central challenge is to arrest phase\nseparation at the desired length scale. Here, we show that solid-state\npolymerization-induced phase separation can produce stable structures at\noptical length scales. In this process, a polymeric solid is swollen and\nsoftened with a second monomer. During its polymerization, the two polymers\nbecome immiscible and phase separate. As free monomer is depleted, the host\nmatrix resolidifies and arrests coarsening. The resulting PS-PMMA composites\nhave a blue or white appearance. We compare these biomimetic nanostructures to\nthose in structurally-colored feather barbs, and demonstrate the flexibility of\nthis approach by producing structural color in filaments and large sheets.\n