A General and Robust Strategy for Fabricating Mechanoresponsive Surface Wrinkles with Dynamic Switchable Transmittance. Issue 13 (16th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jiang, Baolai; Liu, Luntao; Gao, Zongpeng; Wang, Wenshou
• Is Part Of: Advanced optical materials. Volume 6:Issue 13(2018)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2018-04-16
• Subjects: bilayer films -- mechanoresponsive optical switching -- smart windows -- surface wrinkles -- tunable optical transmittance; Optical materials -- Periodicals; Photonics -- Periodicals; 620.11295
• DOI: 10.1002/adom.201800195
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2195-1071

Abstract

Abstract: Preparation of surface wrinkles on a skin layer/elastomer substrate bilayer film has attracted extensive attention because of their unique and broad applications in flexible electronic devices, tunable diffraction gratings, and smart windows. However, it still remains a great challenge to develop a general strategy for fabricating mechanoresponsive surface wrinkles using various skin layer materials with wide tunability of wrinkles' wavelength and amplitude, large optical modulation range, rapid optical switching rate, and high stability. Here, a general, simple, and cost‐effective strategy is reported, through uniaxially stretching and subsequently releasing skin layer/elastomer substrate bilayer films, for producing highly ordered, crack‐free, 1D surface wrinkles on elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with various skin layer materials, including polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), chitosan (CS), hydroxyethyl cellulose, and the mixtures of PVA and CS. The surface wrinkles on PVA/PDMS bilayer film exhibit excellent mechanoresponsive optical switching properties, such as large transmittance modulation range (transmittance from ≈6% to 91% at visible region), high optical sensitivity with small mechanical strain (less than 20%), and long optical switching cycles (over 2000 times). It is anticipated that this method will enable a new path to the fabrication of mechanoresponsive surface wrinkles with outstanding performance for applications in dynamic optical switching fields and beyond. Abstract : Smart windows by mechanoresponsive surface wrinkles : A general and robust strategy is developed for producing highly ordered 1D surface wrinkles on elastomeric polydimethylsiloxane substrates with various skin layer materials. The bilayer film exhibits excellent mechanoresponsive optical switching properties. Such films can be used as smart windows, which can be reversibly tuned between transparent and opaque for 2000 cycles.