Hydrophobic structural color films with bright color and tunable stop-bands

Hydrophobic structural color films have attracted a special attention due to the great advantages in application, which currently become a research hot-spot. This study presents a convenient approach to fabricate hydrophobic structural color films by modifying self-assembled polymer opal from cross-linked polystyrene microspheres and polydimethylsiloxane. The obtained films exhibited several unique characteristics, such as a high water contact angle of 137 degrees, bright structural color, and tunable stop-bands. Additionally, the combination of hydrophobicity and tunable stop-bands was significant for potential application in paint and external decoration of architectures. The present result opens new vistas for the research of functional films, using thermal-assisted self-assembly as a simple method that is cheap and commonly available. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.