A Self-assembling of opaline materials on porous substrates like paper requires a very fast crystallization, which can be realized with highly monodisperse colloids. This opens the possibility of applying effect pigments to such substrates not by spraying the rather large effect pigments themselves, but by spraying their building blocks, which self-assemble later on. The feasibility of this approach is presented here for monodisperse polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) spheres. This process tolerates additives used for ink-jet printing.

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Summary: In this paper, we describe the use of artificial opals from polymer beads as effect pigments in transparent industrial and automotive coatings. For this purpose, we synthesized monodisperse colloids from fluorinated methacrylates by surfactant‐free emulsion polymerization. The fluorinated monomers, in combination with crosslinking, lead to a refractive index contrast, thermal stability, and solvent resistivity necessary for use as effect pigments. After crystallization of the monodisperse polymer beads, crystal flakes with iridescent colors can be obtained. The crystal flakes can act as effect pigments in various transparent industrial and automotive coatings. Due to photonic crystal behavior of effect pigments, color flops up to 100 nm are observed.Crystal flakes of CS‐7 as effect pigments in a transparent coating. The diameter of the tube is 5 mm.magnified imageCrystal flakes of CS‐7 as effect pigments in a transparent coating. The diameter of the tube is 5 mm.

Cover:The picture on the cover shows ''artificial polymer opals'', which can be used as effect pigments in clear coatings. Shown is an EM picture, a dispersion of the opaline flakes and coated steel plates.Further details can be found in the Full Paper by M. Egen, L. Braun, R. Zentel,* K. Tännert, P. Frese, O. Reis, and M. Wulf on page 158.

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