Biomimetic reflectors fabricated using self-organising, self-aligning liquid crystal polymers

Abstract

The photograph shows a polymer reflector that mimics the colour and underlying molecular structure of a golden beetle. It is formed from self-organizing layers of photopolymerised liquid crystal. These require an aligning layer, but we show that a layer of the material can be used as to self-align subsequent coatings, enabling the construction of complex structures by sequential coating of engineered materials. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.