The chromatic shift of 1-D photonic crystal films influenced by the alkyl group on imidazolium moiety of ionic liquids

Retaining reflection color developed from the photonic crystals has been our main interest. Persistent reflecting color from polymer photonic crystals using non-volatile solvents has been huddled by permeation of large molecular weight solvents. Some ionic liquids can permeate in between polymer photonic crystal layers. Polystyrene-b-poly-2-vinylpyridine (PS-b-P2VP) was used to obtain photonic crystals. The molecular weight of PS-b-P2VP and the hydrophobicity of the ionic liquids were altered to attain persistent color. Imidazolium and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium were used as cations of ionic liquids where the anion was bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. The photonic crystals made with block copolymers of 84k–69k and 57k–57k molecular weights showed the persistent distinct colors by swelling with the ionic liquids.