Large-scale production of high-quality elastic structural color films based on hydrogen bond and colloidal charge co-driven silica microsphere self-assembly

Photonic crystals (PCs) could revolutionize the modern engineering field. However, the commonly used largescale roll-to-roll fabrication techniques are limited by the utilization of complex materials and devices. In this work, a method combining evaporative self-assembly and roll-to-roll precision printing was used for the ultrafast fabrication of large-area colloidal crystals. In this process, hydrogen bonding and colloidal charge cooperate to promote the formation of highly ordered colloidal crystals from SiO2 particles with virtually crack-free textures. The as-fabricated PCs films exhibits excellent optical and mechanical properties, including uniform and saturated colors (1 > & UDelta;E.ab for 27 orthogonal points), long service life (> 12 months), a wide operating temperature range (25-90 C), superior bending resistance (> 190,000 cycles), good folding resistance (> 320 cycles), and excellent reversibility (> 27,000 cycles). This work provides new insights into the self-assembly of colloidal SiO2 particles that will enable the application of PCs films in the back covers of mobile phones and multicolor displays.