Solid Polymer Films Exhibiting Handedness-Switchable, Full-Color-Tunable Selective Reflection of Circularly Polarized Light

Poly(quinoxaline-2,3-diyl)s bearing (S)-2-methylbutyl, n-butyl, and 8-chlorooctyl groups as side chains were synthesized to fabricate dry solid polymer thin films. These films exhibited selective reflection of right-handed circular polarized light (CPL) in the visible region after annealing in CHCl3 vapor at room temperature. The handedness of reflected CPL was inverted to the left after annealing in 1,2-dichloroethane vapor. It was also found that the color of a particular single film along with the handedness of reflected CPL were fully tuned reversibly, upon exposure of the film to the vapor of various mixtures of chloroform and 1,2-dichloroethane in different ratios.