Structural Color Inks Containing Photonic Microbeads for Direct Writing
Jong Hyun Kim1, Jong Bin Kim1, Shin-Hyun Kim1
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|April 9, 2024
Summary
Researchers developed new elastic photonic microbeads for direct writing. These microbeads create vibrant, stable structural colors on diverse surfaces, offering a versatile printing solution.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Optics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Direct writing of structural color patterns is crucial for custom graphics.
- Current colloidal photonic inks have limitations in printing conditions and material properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop elastic photonic microbeads for scalable production.
- To formulate photonic inks for direct writing with enhanced properties.
- To enable structural color printing on various substrates.
Main Methods:
- Scalable bulk emulsification of photocurable colloidal dispersion in sucrose solution.
- Vortexing to form uniform emulsion droplets.
- Photopolymerization to create elastic microbeads.
- Suspension of microbeads in urethane acrylate resin for ink formulation.
Main Results:
- Elastic photonic microbeads produced with narrow size distribution.
- Photonic inks exhibit high color saturation and improved printability.
- Printed graphics show high mechanical stability and dimensional control on fabrics, paper, and skin.
- Colors display wide viewing angles and low-angle dependency.
Conclusions:
- A versatile direct writing technique for structural color printing using elastic photonic microbeads has been established.
- The developed inks offer enhanced performance and applicability on diverse surfaces.
- This method holds potential for structural color coating on arbitrary 3D objects.
