Electrochromism based on structural colour changes in a polyelectrolyte gel

Electrochromism based on structural colours was demonstrated by employing a simple system composed of a two-electrode cell, a salt-free organic solvent, and a nanostructured electroactive soft material. A polyelectrolyte gel, poly(HEMA-co-MAPTA-PF6), with an inverse-opal structure was prepared by using a polystyrene close-packed colloidal crystal as a template. The resulting gel swollen in binary organic solvents exhibited monochromatic structural colours. The structural colour of the gel was altered over the entire visible light region by changing the solvent polarity. Moreover, the structural colour could be tuned by applying a relatively low voltage, where the change in the lattice constant of the inverse-opal along the gel thickness direction, triggered by an electrodragging force on the polyelectrolyte gel under the electric field, was responsible for the colour change. The present system offers a novel concept for full-colour electrochromic materials, and the system can be tuned to exhibit the full range of colours by using single materials.