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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 37: Biopolymers, Biomaterials and Bioinspired Functional Materials (joint session CPP/BP)
CPP 37.6: Talk
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 11:00–11:15, H 0111
Sustainable photonic glass pigments from brush block copolymers — •Zhen Wang1, Ruiting Li2, Richard Parker1, and Silvia Vignolini1,2 — 1Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK — 2Department of Sustainable and Bio-inspired Materials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
Growing societal concerns over microplastic pollution and resource sustainability is driving the pigment industry to search for sustainable alternatives. One promising avenue is block copolymer (BCP), which is known to self-assemble into structurally coloured materials. However, its real-world application has been hindered by limited exploration into the suitability of biocompatible and (bio)degradable monomers. In this talk we will show that biocompatible BCPs can be self-assembled within emulsified microdroplets, which upon drying form microparticles with a porous photonic glass architecture. The colour from these pigments can be tuned by either the BCP properties or the fabrication conditions. Finally, the relationship between the microparticle morphology and its optical response was investigated for BCPs with similar composition but different thermal behaviour. This revealed the formation mechanism for the porous structure and allowed for a strategy to enhance colour purity.
Keywords: block copolymers; photonic glass pigments; structural colour; sustainable; biopolymer