Biomimetic Reflectors Fabricated Using Self-Organising, Self-Aligning Liquid Crystal Polymers

1. Ariosto Matranga, 
2. Sarwat Baig, 
3. Jessica Boland, 
4. Christopher Newton, 
5. Timothy Taphouse, 
6. Gary Wells, 
7. Stephen Kitson^*

Article first published online: 8 NOV 2012

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201203182

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.