A Study of the Optical Properties and Fabrication of Coatings Made of Three-Dimensional Photonic Glass

Photonic crystals employ optical properties based on optical, physical, chemical, and material science. Nanosilica particles have a high specific surface area and are widely used in nanotechnology research and biomedical applications. In this study, nanosilica particles were fabricated by sol–gel methods, and the particle sizes of the silica nanoparticles were 280, 232, and 187 nm, based on dynamic light scattering. The silica nanoparticle suspension solution was heated to boiling for fast evaporation processing for self-assembly to fabricate three-dimensional photonic glass for structural color coatings. The sample had an adjustable structural color (red: 640 nm, green: 532 nm, and blue: 432 nm). The microstructures of various structure-colored samples were arranged, but there was a disordered solid arrangement of silica nanoparticles. These were not perfect opal-based photonic crystals. Compared to opal-based photonic crystals, the arrangement of silica nanoparticles was a glassy structure with a short-range order. Due to the accumulation of silica nanoparticle aggregates, samples displayed a stable colloidal film, independent of the viewing angle. In our study, the fast solvent evaporation in the self-assembly process led to the formation of a colloidal amorphous array, and it fitted the requirement for non-iridescence. Non-iridescent photonic glass with various colors was obtained. This type of color coating has wide potential applications, including reflective displays, colorimetric sensors, textiles, and buildings.