Redox-tunable structural colour images by UV-patterned conducting polymer nanofilms on metal surfaces

• Precise manipulation of light-matter interaction has enabled a wide variety of approaches to create bright and vivid structural colours. Techniques utilizing photonic crystals, Fabry-Pérot cavities, plasmonics, or high-refractive index dielectric metasurfaces have been studied for applications ranging from optical coatings to reflective displays. However, complicated fabrication procedures for sub-wavelength nanostructures, limited active areas, and inherent absence of tunability of these approaches significantly impede their further development towards flexible, large-scale, and switchable devices compatible with facile and cost-effective production. Herein, we present a simple and efficient method to generate structural colours based on nanoscale conducting polymer films prepared on metallic surfaces via vapour phase polymerization and ultraviolet (UV) light patterning. Varying the UV dose enables synergistic control of both nanoscale film thickness and polymer permittivity, which generates controllable colours from violet to red. Together with greyscale photomasks this enables fabrication of high-resolution colour images using single exposure steps. We further demonstrate spatiotemporal tuning of the structurally coloured surfaces and images via electrochemical modulation of the polymer redox state. The simple structure, facile fabrication, wide colour gamut, and dynamic colour tuning make this concept competitive for future multi-functional and smart displays.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi -- Materialkemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences -- Materials Chemistry (hsv//eng)

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