Recent progress on structural coloration

Abstract

Structure coloration generated colors by the interaction between incident light and nano-scale structures and have received tremendous interest for decades due to their advantages including the robustness against bleaching and environmentally friendly properties compared with conventional pigments and dyes. As a cutting-edge coloration strategy, the tuning of structural colors based on micro-and nanoscale photonic structures has been extensively explored and enables a broad range of applications including display, anti-counterfeit and coating. In this review, we will summarize the fundamental mechanisms and design strategies for structural color while reviewing the recent progress in realizing dynamic structural coloration. The promising potential applications including optics information and displays are also discussed. Finally, research trends, challenges, and future scope of the work are summarized in the conclusion part of the article.