Issue 37, 2014

Butterfly effects: novel functional materials inspired from the wings scales

Abstract

Through millions of years of evolutionary selection, nature has created biological materials with various functional properties for survival. Many complex natural architectures, such as shells, bones, and honeycombs, have been studied and imitated in the design and fabrication of materials with enhanced hardness and stiffness. Recently, more and more researchers have started to research the wings of butterflies, mostly because of their dazzling colors. It was found that most of these iridescent colors are caused by periodic photonic structures on the scales that make up the surfaces of these wings. These materials have recently become a focus of multidiscipline research because of their promising applications in the display of structural colors, and in advanced sensors, photonic crystals, and solar cells. This paper review aims to provide a perspective overview of the research inspired by these wing structures in recent years.

Graphical abstract: Butterfly effects: novel functional materials inspired from the wings scales

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
08 Apr 2014
Accepted
17 Jul 2014
First published
18 Jul 2014

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014,16, 19767-19780

Author version available

Butterfly effects: novel functional materials inspired from the wings scales

W. Zhang, J. Gu, Q. Liu, H. Su, T. Fan and D. Zhang, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2014, 16, 19767 DOI: 10.1039/C4CP01513D

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