Free-Standing Photonic Crystal Films with Gradient Structural Colors

Hydrogel colloidal crystal composite materials have a demonstrated value in responsive photonic crystals (PhCs) via controllable stimuli. Although they have been successfully exploited to generate a gradient of color distribution, the soft hydrogels have limitations in terms of stability and storage caused by dependence on environment. Here, we present a practical strategy to fabricate free-standing PhC films with a stable gradient of structural colors using binary polymer networks. A colloidal crystal hydrogel film was prepared for this purpose, with continuously varying photonic band gaps corresponding to the gradient of the press. Then, a second polymer network was used to lock the inside non-close-packed PhC structures and color distribution of the hydrogel film. It was demonstrated that our strategy could bring about a solution to the angle-dependent structural colors of the PhC films by coating the surface with special microstructures.