Generating bulk-scale ordered optical materials using shear-assembly in viscoelastic media
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Publication Date
2017-06-22Journal Title
Materials
ISSN
1996-1944
Publisher
MDPI
Volume
10
Issue
7
Language
English
Type
Article
This Version
AM
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Finlayson, C., & Baumberg, J. (2017). Generating bulk-scale ordered optical materials using shear-assembly in viscoelastic media. Materials, 10 (7)https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070688
Abstract
We review recent advances in the generation of photonics materials over large areas and volumes, using the paradigm of shear-induced ordering of composite polymer nanoparticles. The hard-core/soft-shell design of these particles produces quasi-solid “gum-like” media, with a viscoelastic ensemble response to applied shear, in marked contrast to the behavior seen in colloidal and granular systems. Applying an oscillatory shearing method to sub-micron spherical nanoparticles gives elastomeric photonic crystals (or “polymer opals”) with intense tunable structural color. The further engineering of this shear-ordering using a controllable “roll-to-roll” process known as Bending Induced Oscillatory Shear (BIOS), together with the interchangeable nature of the base composite particles, opens potentially transformative possibilities for mass manufacture of nano-ordered materials, including advances in optical materials, photonics, and metamaterials/plasmonics.
Sponsorship
EPSRC (EP/G060649/1)
EPSRC (EP/H027130/1)
EPSRC (EP/N016920/1)
EPSRC (EP/L027151/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma10070688
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/265795
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International, Attribution 4.0 International, Attribution 4.0 International, Attribution 4.0 International