Studies on infrared radiation management material based on micron colloidal photonic crystal

Colloidal photonic crystal is a type of novel artificial functional material, which can effectively control the propagation of light wave with high reflection by its photonic band gap. It has the advantages of low-cost, simple process of preparation and the potential of fabricating in large scale. When the band gap located in the infrared band, colloidal photonic crystal could effectively manage the heat radiation, and reduce the detectability in the infrared band. Thus, there is a great potential in the field of infrared stealth technology for the photonic crystal. An infrared material of colloidal photonic crystal with a low cost and easy preparation process is reported in this study. Micrometer monodisperse polystyrene (PS) colloidal microspheres with different particle sizes were obtained by formulation control. The effect of the formulation on the size of PS microspheres was also studied, and theoretical principles of influencing factors were stated. The structured two-dimensional photonic crystal materials were prepared by gas-liquid interface self-assembly method. The bright Debye ring was observed clearly by laser vertical irradiation. PS colloidal microspheres were self-assembled into high-quality opal and three-dimensional photonic crystal using an improved vertical self-assembled deposition method by adjusting the temperature and concentration of the microsphere in their aqueous solution. The controllable preparation and the characteristics of infrared band optical were studied using laser particle size analyzer, scanning electron microscope, infrared spectrometer etc. The forbidden band gap of the three-dimensional photonic crystals assembled from monodisperse colloidal microspheres of 1.10 μm was 2.25 μm, and that of the three-dimensional photonic crystals assembled from PS monodisperse colloidal microspheres of 1.20 μm was 2.47 μm. The above results were consistent with the theoretical calculation. The photonic crystal material could change the infrared radiation characteristics of the corresponding band gap and is expected to be applied to photonic crystal templates, thermal barrier coating materials and infrared stealth technology fields.