Bright and Switchable Whiteness in Macro‐Crosslinked Hydrogels

Author:

Eklund Amanda1,Hu Shanming1ORCID,Fang Yuhuang1,Savolainen Henri1,Pi Haotian1,Zeng Hao2,Priimagi Arri2,Ikkala Olli1,Zhang Hang1ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Department of Applied Physics Aalto University Espoo 02150 Finland

2. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences Tampere University Tampere 33101 Finland

Abstract

AbstractBright white color is often achieved in nature by the combination of polydisperse scattering structures and high refractive index contrast between the scatterer and the surrounding medium. Similarly, synthetic systems have commonly utilized inorganic materials as the scattering centers to achieve white color, which, however, lacks the ability to switch the optical properties. While hydrogels capable of scattering light are utilized in applications such as smart windows, their reflection properties have remained limited due to the low refractive index contrast between the polymer and water. As a result, thick layers in the millimeter range are often required to achieve reasonable whiteness. Here a hydrogel consisting of a temperature‐responsive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) and chemically modified agarose used as a chemical macro‐crosslinker is presented. The hydrogel exhibits high whiteness at temperatures above the phase transition (≈31 °C). The reflectance at 800 nm is four times as high as for standard PNIPAm, and a change in transmittance can be induced by laser pulses as short as 30 ms. The macro‐crosslinked structure of this hydrogel provides superior reflectance at a lower thickness compared to reported hydrogel systems, enabling a variety of potential applications including smart windows, responsive displays, optical switches, and camouflage.

Funder

Academy of Finland

China Scholarship Council

European Research Council

H2020 European Research Council

Publisher

Wiley

Cited by 2 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3