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Structural Colored Balloon Composed of Temperature-Responsive Polymers Showing LCST Behavior.

Kenji Higashiguchi¹, Naoki Morita¹, Kenji Matsuda¹

¹Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering , Kyoto University , Katsura , Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto 615-8510 , Japan.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|September 12, 2018

Summary

Thermoresponsive structural colored balloons (SCBs) change color with temperature. Swelling and dissolution of the polymer shell, driven by hydration and osmotic pressure, alter optical path length and thus structural color.

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Area of Science:

Polymer Science
Materials Science
Optical Engineering

Background:

Structural colored balloons (SCBs) utilize thin-film interference for color.
Thermoresponsive polymers offer tunable material properties with temperature changes.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop thermoresponsive SCBs using a specific copolymer.
To investigate the relationship between polymer behavior and structural color changes.

Main Methods:

Preparation of SCBs with poly(diethylene glycol monomethyl ether methacrylate)-co-poly(N-phenylacrylamide).
Observation of SCB response to cooling in gelatin solution and cold pure water.
Analysis of structural color changes correlated with polymer hydration, swelling, and dissolution.

Main Results:

The thermoresponsive copolymer exhibited lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior.
Hydration and swelling increased SCB optical path length, while dissolution decreased it.
Both hydration and osmotic pressure-induced swelling affected shell thickness and structural color.

Conclusions:

Polymer dissolution significantly impacts the structural color of thermoresponsive SCBs.
The study demonstrates a method for creating tunable structural colors using thermoresponsive polymers.