Non-Iridescent Structural Color Control via Inkjet Printing of Self-Assembled Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles

Ziying Hu; Nathan P. Bradshaw; Bram Vanthournout; Chris Forman; Karthikeyan Gnanasekaran; Matthew P. Thompson; Paul Smeets; Ali Dhinojwala; Matthew D. Shawkey; Mark C. Hersam; Nathan C. Gianneschi

doi:10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01719

Non-Iridescent Structural Color Control via Inkjet Printing of Self-Assembled Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles

Ziying Hu, Nathan P. Bradshaw, Bram Vanthournout, Chris Forman, Karthikeyan Gnanasekaran, Matthew P. Thompson, Paul Smeets, Ali Dhinojwala, Matthew D. Shawkey, Mark C. Hersam^*, Nathan C. Gianneschi^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Melanin is a natural pigment with a high refractive index and strong light absorption across the visible spectrum, making it an ideal material for producing structural colors. Here, we report non-iridescent structural color control via inkjet printing of self-assembled synthetic melanin nanoparticles (SMNPs). Adding silica shells to SMNPs allows for further tuning of both the hue and brightness of the resulting structural colors. The peak wavelengths show a linear dependence with the diameter of the nanoparticles, allowing correlation between ink composition and structural color using the Bragg-Snell law. Additionally, mixtures of SMNPs of different sizes result in colors with peak wavelengths that vary linearly with the mixing ratio in the ink, leading to diverse and predictable colors from one type of material. The morphology of the self-assembled SMNP structures is further controlled by the hydrophilicity of the substrate, providing another means for tailoring the structure and properties. Since structural colors are less susceptible to degradation than organic dyes, this work has implications for emerging sensing, display, and security applications.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	6433-6442
Number of pages	10
Journal	Chemistry of Materials
Volume	33
Issue number	16
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01719
State	Published - Aug 24 2021

Funding

The authors thank Dr. Daniel Franklin for assistance in MATLAB codes and CIE color space chromaticity diagrams and Dr. Naima Hilli for assistance in FIB-SEM characterization. The authors acknowledge support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through a MURI Grant (FA9550-18-1-0142) and supplemental grant (AFOSR FA9550-18-1-0477). N.P.B. and M.C.H. acknowledge the National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Northwestern University (DMR-1720319). N.P.B. also acknowledges a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. This work made use of the EPIC facility of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205) and the MRSEC program (NSF DMR-1720139) at the Materials Research Center. M.D.S. and B.V. acknowledge the U. Ghent Special Research Fund (BOF) and Flemish Research Council (FWO, G007117N).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering
Materials Chemistry

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10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01719

Cite this

Hu, Z., Bradshaw, N. P., Vanthournout, B., Forman, C., Gnanasekaran, K., Thompson, M. P., Smeets, P., Dhinojwala, A., Shawkey, M. D., Hersam, M. C., & Gianneschi, N. C. (2021). Non-Iridescent Structural Color Control via Inkjet Printing of Self-Assembled Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles. Chemistry of Materials, 33(16), 6433-6442. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c01719

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title = "Non-Iridescent Structural Color Control via Inkjet Printing of Self-Assembled Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles",

abstract = "Melanin is a natural pigment with a high refractive index and strong light absorption across the visible spectrum, making it an ideal material for producing structural colors. Here, we report non-iridescent structural color control via inkjet printing of self-assembled synthetic melanin nanoparticles (SMNPs). Adding silica shells to SMNPs allows for further tuning of both the hue and brightness of the resulting structural colors. The peak wavelengths show a linear dependence with the diameter of the nanoparticles, allowing correlation between ink composition and structural color using the Bragg-Snell law. Additionally, mixtures of SMNPs of different sizes result in colors with peak wavelengths that vary linearly with the mixing ratio in the ink, leading to diverse and predictable colors from one type of material. The morphology of the self-assembled SMNP structures is further controlled by the hydrophilicity of the substrate, providing another means for tailoring the structure and properties. Since structural colors are less susceptible to degradation than organic dyes, this work has implications for emerging sensing, display, and security applications.",

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AB - Melanin is a natural pigment with a high refractive index and strong light absorption across the visible spectrum, making it an ideal material for producing structural colors. Here, we report non-iridescent structural color control via inkjet printing of self-assembled synthetic melanin nanoparticles (SMNPs). Adding silica shells to SMNPs allows for further tuning of both the hue and brightness of the resulting structural colors. The peak wavelengths show a linear dependence with the diameter of the nanoparticles, allowing correlation between ink composition and structural color using the Bragg-Snell law. Additionally, mixtures of SMNPs of different sizes result in colors with peak wavelengths that vary linearly with the mixing ratio in the ink, leading to diverse and predictable colors from one type of material. The morphology of the self-assembled SMNP structures is further controlled by the hydrophilicity of the substrate, providing another means for tailoring the structure and properties. Since structural colors are less susceptible to degradation than organic dyes, this work has implications for emerging sensing, display, and security applications.

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Non-Iridescent Structural Color Control via Inkjet Printing of Self-Assembled Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticles

Abstract

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