Patterned full-color reflective coatings based on photonic cholesteric liquid-crystalline particles

An easy approach to pattern angular-independent, multicolor reflective coatings based on cholesteric liquid-crystalline (CLC) particles is presented. CLC particles are fabricated by emulsification, which is a scalable, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly synthesis process. The photonic particles can be easily dispersed in a binder to produce reflective coatings. Furthermore, a simple strategy to remove the photonic cross-communication between the particles has been developed. By incorporating a reactive blue/green absorbing dye into the network structure of the CLC particles the cross-communication is absorbed by the dye, leading to well-defined structural colors. Moreover, we demonstrate the possibility of producing patterned multicolor images by controlled swelling of the particles by the binder.