Photoresponsive and Polarization-Sensitive Structural Colors from Cellulose/Liquid Crystal Nanophotonic StructuresShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Advanced Materials, ISSN 0935-9648, E-ISSN 1521-4095, Vol. 33, no 36, p. 2101519-, article id 2101519Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) possess the ability to form helical periodic structures that generate structural colors. Due to the helicity, such self-assembled cellulose structures preferentially reflect left-handed circularly polarized light of certain colors, while they remain transparent to right-handed circularly polarized light. This study shows that combination with a liquid crystal enables modulation of the optical response to obtain light reflection of both handedness but with reversed spectral profiles. As a result, the nanophotonic systems provide vibrant structural colors that are tunable via the incident light polarization. The results are attributed to the liquid crystal aligning on the CNC/glucose film, to form a birefringent layer that twists the incident light polarization before interaction with the chiral cellulose nanocomposite. Using a photoresponsive liquid crystal, this effect can further be turned off by exposure to UV light, which switches the nematic liquid crystal into a nonbirefringent isotropic phase. The study highlights the potential of hybrid cellulose systems to create self-assembled yet advanced photoresponsive and polarization-tunable nanophotonics.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Wiley , 2021. Vol. 33, no 36, p. 2101519-, article id 2101519
Keywords [en]
cellulose nanocrystals, circularly polarized light, color switching, digital color, liquid crystals, Cellulose derivatives, Circular polarization, Color, Light polarization, Light reflection, Nanocomposite films, Nanophotonics, Nematic liquid crystals, Birefringent layers, Cellulose nanocrystal (CNCs), Cellulose structures, Nanophotonic structures, Photo-responsive, Photoresponsive liquid crystals, Polarization sensitive, Cellulose, Crystals, Liquids, Polarized Light, Shape, Structures
National Category
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-310709DOI: 10.1002/adma.202101519ISI: 000679050600001PubMedID: 34313346Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85111138755OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-310709DiVA, id: diva2:1654129
Note
QC 20220426
2022-04-262022-04-262022-10-18Bibliographically approved