title: Digital color in cellulose nanocrystal films.
abstract: Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) form chiral nematic phases in aqueous suspensions that can be preserved upon evaporation of water. The resulting films show an intense directional coloration determined by their microstructure. Here, microreflection experiments correlated with analysis of the helicoidal nanostructure of the films reveal that the iridescent colors and the ordering of the individual nematic layers are strongly dependent on the polydispersity of the size distribution of the CNCs. We show how this affects the self-assembly process, and hence multidomain color formation in such bioinspired structural films.
authors.affiliation: Cavendish Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge , J. J. Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ahu Gümrah
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Dumanli
authors.forename: Hanne M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: van der Kooij
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kamita
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reisner
authors.forename: Jeremy J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Baumberg
authors.forename: Ullrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vignolini
mesh_terms: D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D003116:Color; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011137:Polystyrenes / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011137:Polystyrenes; D002482:Cellulose