All‐In‐One Photonic Crystals With Multi‐Stimuli‐Chromic, Color‐Recordable, Self‐Healable, and Adhesive Functions

Abstract

Fabricating photonic crystals (PCs) with dynamic multi‐stimuli‐responsive structural colors, recordable colors, and self‐healable properties is significant for their emerging applications, yet remains a big challenge. Here, an all‐in‐one multifunctional PC (MFPC) film with outstanding mechanochromic, thermochromic, solvatochromic, color/shape‐recordable, self‐healable, and adhesive functions is designed and prepared by simply non‐close‐assembling silica particles into the unique 2‐[[(Butylamino)carbonyl]oxy]ethyl acrylate (BCOEA) followed by photopolymerization. The success is mainly due to the rational combination of non‐close‐packing structures and BCOEA's characteristics, including its urethane groups with numerous sacrificial hydrogen bonds, temperature‐dependent refractive index, swellable and deformable polymer network, as well as low glass‐transition temperature. The MFPC's hue and color saturation can be reversibly and dynamically modulated by strain/pressure/solvents and temperature, respectively, thereby realizing visually and spectrally sensing these stimuli. More interestingly, the color‐responsiveness combined with other functions endows MFPCs with fascinating emerging applications, including multilayer optical filters, inkless printing, reconfigurable multicolor patterns, stretching‐based anti‐counterfeiting, etc. This work offers a new perspective for designing next‐generation smart photonic materials and will facilitate their all‐round applications.