Non-iridescent structural color pigments from liquid marbles

Abstract

Structural color pigments have attracted increasing interest in a wide variety of research fields. The color is usually angle dependent and iridescent. However, most applications of the pigments require constant color regardless of the viewing angle. Thus, the development of structural color pigments without iridescence is anticipated. Here, we present novel non-iridescent structural color pigments derived from liquid marble microreactors. Using hydrophobic microparticles to encapsulate colloidal crystal suspension drops in marble microreactors, the resultant pigments have hierarchical micro/nanostructures and ordered colloidal crystal arrays on their surfaces. These structural features impart the structural color pigments with the desired non-iridescence.