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Color from hierarchy: Diverse optical properties of micron-sized spherical colloidal assemblies

Author(s)
Vogel, Nicolas; Utech, Stefanie; England, Grant T.; Shirman, Tanya; Phillips, Katherine R.; Koay, Natalie; Burgess, Ian B.; Kolle, Mathias; Weitz, David A.; Aizenberg, Joanna; ... Show more Show less
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Abstract
Materials in nature are characterized by structural order over multiple length scales have evolved for maximum performance and multifunctionality, and are often produced by self-assembly processes. A striking example of this design principle is structural coloration, where interference, diffraction, and absorption effects result in vivid colors. Mimicking this emergence of complex effects from simple building blocks is a key challenge for man-made materials. Here, we show that a simple confined self-assembly process leads to a complex hierarchical geometry that displays a variety of optical effects. Colloidal crystallization in an emulsion droplet creates micron-sized superstructures, termed photonic balls. The curvature imposed by the emulsion droplet leads to frustrated crystallization. We observe spherical colloidal crystals with ordered, crystalline layers and a disordered core. This geometry produces multiple optical effects. The ordered layers give rise to structural color from Bragg diffraction with limited angular dependence and unusual transmission due to the curved nature of the individual crystals. The disordered core contributes nonresonant scattering that induces a macroscopically whitish appearance, which we mitigate by incorporating absorbing gold nanoparticles that suppress scattering and macroscopically purify the color. With increasing size of the constituent colloidal particles, grating diffraction effects dominate, which result from order along the crystal’s curved surface and induce a vivid polychromatic appearance. The control of multiple optical effects induced by the hierarchical morphology in photonic balls paves the way to use them as building blocks for complex optical assemblies—potentially as more efficient mimics of structural color as it occurs in nature.
Date issued
2015-09
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101401
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Citation
Vogel, Nicolas, Stefanie Utech, Grant T. England, Tanya Shirman, Katherine R. Phillips, Natalie Koay, Ian B. Burgess, Mathias Kolle, David A. Weitz, and Joanna Aizenberg. “Color from Hierarchy: Diverse Optical Properties of Micron-Sized Spherical Colloidal Assemblies.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, no. 35 (August 19, 2015): 10845–10850.
Version: Final published version
ISSN
0027-8424
1091-6490

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