Biomimetic Construction of Non‐Iridescent Structural Color Films with High Hydrophobicity and Good Mechanical Stability Induced by Chaotic Convective Coassembly Method

Abstract

This article presents an originative strategy to biomimetically construct non‐iridescent structural color films with high hydrophobicity and good mechanical stability. In this strategy, the amorphous array of polystyrene (PS) particles is easily fabricated via a simple chaotic convective flow coassembly method to imitate the amorphous nanostructures of avian feathers. An amorphous array is locked by introducing fluorinated polyacrylate (FPA) latex to the voids between the PS particles as binder, which is similar to the locking effect of an organism of a bird's wing. Meanwhile, the high hydrophobicity (140° contact angle) and good mechanical stability of the films are obtained owing to hydrophobicity of FPA and high roughness of the amorphous array. The as‐prepared films retain their brilliant colors under natural light, and this property is essential for their applications in full‐color displays and responsive materials.