At the NanoPhotonics Centre at the University of Cambridge, scientists are tinkering with tiny structures like the ones in butterfly wings to create crazy new materials that manipulate light and change color in strange ways.
“A lot of this stuff is not completely mainstream,” said Jeremy Baumberg, who directs the center. “People think it’s a bit weird.”
During a recent visit to Cambridge, I sat down with Baumberg to talk about some of the projects he and his colleagues -- engineers, physicists, chemists, materials scientists, and biologists -- are working on. This gallery shows off a few highlights.
The secrets behind these multicolored materials lie in the tiny nanostructures they’re made from: spheres, helices, tangled gyroids, lattices, super-thin membranes, and stacks. “The nice thing about all these materials is they’re a very visual example of nanotechnology,” Baumberg said. “The features and the color all come from structure.”
Above:
Multicolored balloons
Super-thin, transparent nanolayers reflect different colors depending on their thickness and the interface between them. If those layers are flexible enough, they can be folded and stacked to create inflatable membranes that change color as they inflate. That's how the lab created these psychedelic looking bubbles. “You blow air through the membrane, and you get these color-changing bubbles,” Baumberg said.In addition to groovier party balloons, such technology could inspire practical products like tires that change to green when inflated to the right air pressure.
Image and Project: Gen Kamita, NanoPhotonics Cambridge
