Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025
05:51
Fabrication of White Light-emitting Electrochemical Cells with Stable Emission from Exciplexes
Published on: November 15, 2016
8.3K
Light Management with Natural Materials: From Whiteness to Transparency
Gianni Jacucci1, Lukas Schertel1, Yating Zhang1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|July 24, 2020
Summary
Nature inspires advanced optical materials using plant-derived biopolymers. Researchers review natural strategies and highlight progress in creating tunable, biodegradable photonic materials from cellulose for coatings and paints.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Optics
Background:
- Controlling light-matter interactions at the nanoscale is crucial for developing advanced paints and coatings.
- Nature offers inspiration and materials for novel optical structures, particularly biopolymers.
- Natural photonic systems utilize nano- to micrometer-sized structures for light transport effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review nature's strategies for optimizing light-matter interactions.
- To highlight progress in producing optical materials solely from plant-derived building blocks.
- To discuss learning from natural photonic systems for biopolymer-based material production.
Main Methods:
- Review of natural strategies for light-matter interaction.
- Analysis of natural photonic systems in plants and animals.
- Highlighting recent advancements in cellulose-based optical material production.
Main Results:
- Natural biopolymers enable control over light scattering.
- Structural variations in biopolymers yield tunable optical properties (whiteness, transparency).
- Successful production of transparent and white cellulose-based optical materials demonstrated.
Conclusions:
- Plant-derived biopolymers are promising renewable resources for optical materials.
- Nature-inspired designs can lead to advanced, tunable photonic materials.
- Cellulose-based materials offer a sustainable route to next-generation coatings and paints.
Related Concept Videos
02:16Light Acquisition
9.2K
In order to produce glucose, plants need to capture sufficient light energy. Many modern plants have evolved leaves specialized for light acquisition. Leaves can be only millimeters in width or tens of meters wide, depending on the environment. Due to competition for sunlight, evolution has driven the evolution of increasingly larger leaves and taller plants, to avoid shading by their neighbors with contaminant elaboration of root architecture and mechanisms to transport water and nutrients.
9.2K
01:35Light as Energy
90.9K
The energy required to carry out photosynthesis is light— typically electromagnetic radiation from the sun. The range of all possible wavelengths is known as the electromagnetic spectrum.
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit...
Photons
A photon is a discrete electromagnetic particle or bundle of energy. Photons are characterized by their frequency, wavelength, and amplitude, similar to the properties of a wave. Waves with higher frequencies transmit more energy and have shorter wavelengths than longer wavelengths that transmit...
90.9K
02:12The Wave Nature of Light
59.9K
The nature of light has been a subject of inquiry since antiquity. In the seventeenth century, Isaac Newton performed experiments with lenses and prisms and was able to demonstrate that white light consists of the individual colors of the rainbow combined together. Newton explained his optics findings in terms of a "corpuscular" view of light, in which light was composed of streams of extremely tiny particles traveling at high speeds according to Newton's laws of motion.
59.9K
01:16Focusing of Light in the Eye
4.8K
Light rays enter the eye through the cornea, a transparent dome-shaped tissue that is the eye's outermost layer. The cornea bends or refracts, light rays traveling to the pupil. The shape of the cornea determines how much of the light is bent and whether the image will be focused correctly on the retina at the back of the eye. Once the light has passed through both refraction layers, it converges into a single focal point onto a small area. This is where photoreceptors start transforming...
4.8K
02:00Photoreceptors and Plant Responses to Light
28.0K
Light plays a significant role in regulating the growth and development of plants. In addition to providing energy for photosynthesis, light provides other important cues to regulate a range of developmental and physiological responses in plants.
28.0K
01:26Design Example: Sustainability in Concrete Building
321
As the construction industry moves towards more eco-friendly practices, concrete's adaptability and its ability to incorporate sustainable features make it a key material in the drive towards greener building solutions.
There are multiple approaches to achieve sustainability in a commercial concrete building. For instance, construct a concrete parking area under the building, utilizing pervious concrete paver blocks in open areas to facilitate rainwater collection through an underground...
There are multiple approaches to achieve sustainability in a commercial concrete building. For instance, construct a concrete parking area under the building, utilizing pervious concrete paver blocks in open areas to facilitate rainwater collection through an underground...
321