Variable Structural Color Photonic Crystal Composite
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing structural color materials have fixed colors and are inefficient to change, limiting their commercial viability and versatility.
Innovation Solution
A photonic crystal composite material with a metal oxide layer and variable materials that swell or contract within pores, allowing color change through external stimuli such as electricity, magnetism, temperature, and humidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If anodizing surface treatment is used to produce structural color, then a single color can be achieved, but the method is very inefficient and not commercially viable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates a variable material within the pores of the anodized metal oxide layer that can dynamically change its volume in response to external stimuli (temperature, humidity, electricity, magnetism). This dynamic component allows the structural color to be changed after the anodization treatment is completed, transforming a static single-color process into a dynamic multi-color system that maintains manufacturing efficiency while achieving color variability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of the variable material (volume/swelling ratio) in response to external stimuli. When the variable material swells or contracts, it alters the effective pore size and refractive index within the metal oxide layer, thereby changing the wavelength of reflected light and producing different structural colors without requiring re-anodization.
2Adaptability or versatility
If thin film thickness is adjusted to control structural color, then desired color can be achieved, but different thicknesses are required for each desired color
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring different static thin film thicknesses for different colors, the patent uses a single anodized layer with a dynamic variable material component. The variable material's changing volume effectively modulates the optical path length and refractive index, allowing one structure to produce multiple colors through dynamic adjustment rather than requiring multiple structures with different thicknesses.
Solution Approach 2:
The variable material acts as an intermediary element within the pores of the metal oxide layer. It mediates between the fixed anodized structure and the desired color output, translating external stimuli into optical property changes without requiring changes to the underlying metal oxide layer thickness.
3Reliability
If anodizing treatment is completed to produce structural color, then the color is fixed, but the color cannot be changed after treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a composite structure consisting of the metal oxide layer (from anodization) combined with a variable material filled within its pores. The metal oxide layer provides stable, reliable structural coloration through the anodization process, while the variable material embedded within it adds the capability for dynamic color change in response to external stimuli, combining both stability and adaptability in a single composite system.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables reversible color control and high strength, making it suitable for various applications including buildings, automotive, and home appliances.
Implementation Method 1
a variable material that swells and contracts within the pores by external stimulation
Implementation Method 2
A photonic crystal is a nanostructure formed by periodically arranging materials having different dielectric constants (or refractive indices), and has a characteristic of selectively reflecting light at a specific wavelength due to the periodic structure
Implementation Method 3
it is caused by a microstructure with periodicity... when the wavelength reflected by the photonic crystal structure is in the visible light region of 400 to 700 nm, it will take on color, this is called 'structural color'
Implementation Method 4
there is a technique for forming a surface through anodizing treatment
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a structural color variable photonic crystal composite material and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, a photonic crystal composite material having various changes in color by external stimulation and controlling the color change, and a method of manufacturing the same. The structural color variable photonic crystal composite material includes a metal having a metal oxide layer formed on its surface, wherein the metal oxide layer includes a plurality of pores, and a variable material that swells and contracts within the pores by external stimulation.