Transparency-changing elastomers by controlling of the refractive index of liquid inclusions

Sangchul Roh; Seonju Yeo; Rachel S. Bang; Koohee Han; Krassimir P. Velikov; Orlin D. Velev

doi:10.1088/1361-648X/ad6110

Transparency-changing elastomers by controlling of the refractive index of liquid inclusions

Sangchul Roh^*, Seonju Yeo, Rachel S. Bang, Koohee Han, Krassimir P. Velikov, Orlin D. Velev^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

Abstract

Complex materials that change their optical properties in response to changes in environmental conditions can find applications in displays, smart windows, and optical sensors. Here a class of biphasic composites with stimuli-adaptive optical transmittance is introduced. The biphasic composites comprise aqueous droplets (a mixture of water, glycerol, and surfactant) embedded in an elastomeric matrix. The biphasic composites are tuned to be optically transparent through a careful match of the refractive indices between the aqueous droplets and the elastomeric matrix. We demonstrate that stimuli (e.g., salinity and temperature change) can trigger variations in the optical transmittance of the biphasic composite. The introduction of such transparency-changing soft matter with liquid inclusions offers a novel approach to designing advanced optical devices, optical sensors, and metamaterials.

Original language	English
Article number	425101
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Physics Condensed Matter
Volume	36
Issue number	42
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/ad6110
Publication status	Published - 23 Oct 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd

Funding

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation Grants CBET-1935248 and partially CBET 2133983. This project has received support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 956248.

Funders	Funder number
National Science Foundation	CBET-1935248, CBET 2133983
European Union	956248
Marie Curie Actions (MSCA)	956248

Keywords

liquid inclusions
optical metamaterials
stimuli-responsive soft matter

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10.1088/1361-648X/ad6110Licence: CC BY

Roh_2024_J._Phys.__Condens._Matter_36_425101Final published version, 1.36 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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AU - Velev, Orlin D.

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Transparency-changing elastomers by controlling of the refractive index of liquid inclusions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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