TY - JOUR
T1 - Ionic Strength Responsive Sulfonated Polystyrene Opals
AU - Nucara, Luca
AU - Piazza, Vincenzo
AU - Greco, Francesco
AU - Robbiano, Valentina
AU - Cappello, Valentina
AU - Gemmi, Mauro
AU - Cacialli, Franco
AU - Mattoli, Virgilio
PY - 2017/2/8
Y1 - 2017/2/8
N2 - Stimuli-responsive photonic crystals (PCs) represent an intriguing class of smart materials very promising for sensing applications. Here, selective ionic strength responsive polymeric PCs are reported. They are easily fabricated by partial sulfonation of polystyrene opals, without using toxic or expensive monomers and etching steps. The color of the resulting hydrogel-like ordered structures can be continuously shifted over the entire visible range (405-760 nm) by changing the content of ions over an extremely wide range of concentration (from about 70 μM to 4 M). The optical response is completely independent from pH and temperature, and the initial color can be fully recovered by washing the sulfonated opals with pure water. These new smart photonic materials could find important applications as ionic strength sensors for environmental monitoring as well as for healthcare screening.
AB - Stimuli-responsive photonic crystals (PCs) represent an intriguing class of smart materials very promising for sensing applications. Here, selective ionic strength responsive polymeric PCs are reported. They are easily fabricated by partial sulfonation of polystyrene opals, without using toxic or expensive monomers and etching steps. The color of the resulting hydrogel-like ordered structures can be continuously shifted over the entire visible range (405-760 nm) by changing the content of ions over an extremely wide range of concentration (from about 70 μM to 4 M). The optical response is completely independent from pH and temperature, and the initial color can be fully recovered by washing the sulfonated opals with pure water. These new smart photonic materials could find important applications as ionic strength sensors for environmental monitoring as well as for healthcare screening.
KW - colloids
KW - core-shell particles
KW - ionic strength sensors
KW - polyelectrolytes
KW - stimuli-responsive opals
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U2 - 10.1021/acsami.6b14455
DO - 10.1021/acsami.6b14455
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85011961573
SN - 1944-8244
VL - 9
SP - 4818
EP - 4827
JO - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
JF - ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
IS - 5
ER -