Recent Progress in Block Copolymer Self-Assembly for the Fabrication of Structural Color Pigments

The self-assembly of block copolymers (BCPs) into photonic materials has garnered increasing interest due to the versatility and ease of fabrication offered by the synthesized building blocks. BCPs are highly tunable, with their self-assembled structures' size being adjustable by modifying the block lengths, molecular weight(M_w), and polymer composition. This review provides a concise summary of the use of BCPs as photonic pigments, which generate color through structural manipulation rather than relying on chemical pigmentation. These photonic crystal pigments manipulate light behavior, including interference, diffraction, and diffusion, to generate specific colors. BCPs are categorized into two types: linear block copolymers (LBCPs) and brush block copolymers (BBCPs), each involving different monomers that form photonic crystals(PCs). The structural evolution and advancements of BCPs in various practical applications are also explored. It concludes by suggesting that structural color(SC) pigments based on eco-friendly PCs may replace traditional chemical ones in fields such as printing ink, biosensing, chemical sensing, and adaptive photonic materials.