Premium
Photonic Particles Made by the Confined Self‐Assembly of a Supramolecular Comb‐Like Block Copolymer
Author(s) -
Moriceau Guillaume,
Kilchoer Cédric,
Djeghdi Kenza,
Weder Christoph,
Steiner Ullrich,
Wilts Bodo D.,
Gunkel Ilja
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.202100522
Subject(s) - materials science , copolymer , lamellar structure , self assembly , structural coloration , chemical engineering , visible spectrum , photonic crystal , aqueous solution , supramolecular chemistry , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , optoelectronics , polymer , composite material , organic chemistry , chemistry , crystal structure , engineering
Approaches that enable the preparation of robust polymeric photonic particles are of interest for the development of nonfading and highly reflective pigments for applications such as paints and display technologies. Here, the preparation of photonic particles that display structural color in both, aqueous suspension and the dry solid state is reported. This is achieved by exploiting the confined self‐assembly of a supramolecular comb‐like block copolymer (BCP) that microphase separates into a well‐ordered lamellar morphology with dimensions that promote a photonic bandgap in the visible range. The comb‐like BCP is formed by robust ionic interactions between poly(styrene‐ b ‐4‐vinyl‐pyridine) (PS‐ b ‐P4VP) BCP and dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid (DBSA), which selectively interacts with P4VP blocks. The components are combined in chloroform, and an aqueous emulsion is prepared. Evaporation of the organic solvent leads to the formation of solid microparticles with an onion‐like 3D morphology. These photonic pigments display brilliant colors with reflectance spectra featuring pronounced optical bandgaps across the entire visible wavelength range with a peak reflectivity of 80–90%.