Hydrogels: Robust Mechanochromic Elastic One‐Dimensional Photonic Hydrogels for Touch Sensing and Flexible Displays (Advanced Optical Materials 7/2014)

On page 652, S. Chen and co-workers exploit a magnetic assembly technique for the fabrication of mechanochromic hydrogels sensitive in a low pressure regime. These photonic materials, made from 1D arrays of Fe3O4 nanoparticles immobilized in elastic hydrogels, show reversible wide color variation within 1 s through a compression-decompression process. Slight touches on the hydrogels, with pressures down to 1 kPa, can induce visual color changes, suggesting an alternative for flexible touch sensors and displays.