Abstract

Colour obtained through structure, namely structural colour, is widespread in the animal and plant kingdom. In this webinar Professor Silvia Vignolini from the University of Cambridge will review recent advances to fabricate bio-mimetic photonic structures, including sustainable pigments and boosting the efficiency of bio-photoreactors.

The most brilliant colours in nature are obtained by structuring transparent materials on the scale of the wavelength of visible light. By designing the dimensions of such nanostructures, it is possible to achieve extremely intense colourations over the entire visible spectrum without using pigments or colourants.

Such photonic nanostructures are generally synthesised in ambient conditions using a limited range of biopolymers. Given these limitations, an amazing range of optical structures exists: from very ordered photonic structures, to partially disordered, to completely random ones.

Developing such biomimetic structures enables us to develop materials for the future using renewable resources and low-cost biopolymers whilst exploiting a circular economy approach.

Professor Silvia Vignolini will share her work on colour and materials based on biopolymers.

This event is FREE to anyone to attend but prior booking is essential. Please email louise.rushworth@cambridgenetwork.co.uk to be added to the attendee list. We run our talks on Zoom, and will send the link to sign-ups a couple of hours before the start time.

These events and webinars are run termly by the Maxwell Centre and Cambridge Network and are aimed at an industrial audience to highlight cutting edge research with industrial application in the not so distant future.

The event page is at: shorturl.at/rxNZ0