Macromolecules, Vol.40, No.15, 5513-5518, 2007
Biform structural colored hydrogel for observation of subchain conformations
We prepared a biform structural colored thermosensitive gel using both a close-packed colloidal crystal and a wing of a morpho butterfly. The porous portion of the gel obtained by the close-packed colloidal crystal as a template exhibits a change in "structural color" according to the volume when the water temperature is altered. Meanwhile, the portion where tiny scales of the wing are strewn on the surface of the gel (a morpho gel) also reveals "structural color", but irrespective of the volume change. The reflection spectrum from "the morpho gel" portion provides the standard value of the peak position, lambda(max,0), indicating that the subchains in the gel are Gaussian chains. Consequently, we can estimate the linear expansion factor alpha of the subchains by comparing the peak positions of the reflection spectra from the porous gel, lambda(max), and from the morpho gel, lambda(max,0): lambda(max)/lambda(max,0) similar to alpha. We can detect the change in the conformation of subchains in the gel in response to the external perturbations surrounding the gel with the naked eye and/or spectroscopic methods through the comparison of the both structural colors.