![]() ![]() Until now though, an easy way of producing these materials and making devices from these materials has been lacking. In nature, iridescent materials, which exhibit a color change when viewed from different angles, can be found in butterfly wings and in nacre (or mother of pearl) in the inner shell of mollusks.Ī man-made version of these natural materials is cholesteric liquid crystal, which has already been used as ‘smart’ materials in light reflectors, switchable windows, and tunable solar energy collectors.įor healthcare applications in soft wearable sensors or decorative lighting, cholesteric liquid crystals are ideally suited. ![]() The new research has been published in the journal Advanced Materials. ![]() TU/e researchers have solved these issues by developing a new light-reflective liquid crystal ink that can be used with existing 3D printing techniques. The materials are not viscous enough to make stable, solid structures, and it’s difficult to align the molecules to produce specific colors. Liquid crystals are used in televisions and smartphones, but future applications for healthcare sensors or decorative lighting are difficult as the materials can’t be used in advanced, rapid production methods like 3D printing. Cholesteric liquid crystals, a man-made material with properties between liquids and solid crystals, can mimic the colors of butterfly wings. ![]()
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