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research article

Hydrogel-Encased Photonic Microspheres with Enhanced Color Saturation and High Suspension Stability

Nam, Seong Kyeong
•
Amstad, Esther  
•
Kim, Shin-Hyun
December 12, 2023
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

Regular arrays of colloidal particles can produce striking structural colors without the need for any chemical pigments. Regular arrays of colloidal particles can be processed into microparticles via emulsion templates for use as structural colorants. Photonic microparticles, however, suffer from intense incoherent scattering and lack of suspension stability. We propose a microfluidic technique to generate hydrogel-shelled photonic microspheres that display enhanced color saturation and suspension stability. We created these microspheres using oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) double-emulsion droplets with well-defined dimensions with a capillary microfluidic device. The inner oil droplet contains silica particles in a photocurable monomer, while the middle water droplet carries the hydrogel precursor. Within the inner oil droplet, silica particles arrange into crystalline arrays due to solvation-layer-induced interparticle repulsion. UV irradiation solidifies the inner photonic core and the outer hydrogel shell. The hydrogel shell reduces white scattering and enhances the suspension stability in water. Notably, the hydrogel precursor in the water droplet aids in maintaining the solvation layer, resulting in enhanced crystallinity and richer colors compared with microspheres from O/W single-emulsion droplets. These hydrogel-encased photonic microspheres show promise as structural colorants in water-based inks and polymer composites.

  • Details
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Type
research article
DOI
10.1021/acsami.3c14364
Web of Science ID

WOS:001128309500001

Author(s)
Nam, Seong Kyeong
Amstad, Esther  
Kim, Shin-Hyun
Date Issued

2023-12-12

Publisher

Amer Chemical Soc

Published in
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Volume

15

Issue

50

Start page

58761

End page

58769

Subjects

Technology

•

Structural Color

•

Colloids

•

Photonic Crystals

•

Emulsions

•

Hydrogel

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
SMAL  
FunderGrant Number

National Research Foundation of Korea

2019K1A3A1A1401296214

National Research Foundation (NRF)

Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP)

Available on Infoscience
February 20, 2024
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/204787
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