Nature species have evolved complex and delicate structures. Many species have brilliant colors, derived from their intrinsic photonic crystal structure. The chameleon disguises itself with the environment, by adjusting these "photonic crystals" to alter the refraction of light and change its color. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) originated from plants can be assembled under certain conditions and appear rainbow color. The bright blue color of the Morph butterfly, which is attributed to the photonic structure formed by the separated multi-level’s structure of the stratum corneum and air, play a role in its’ identification. What inspiration does this perfect harmony between structure and functionality have for the design of new materials? Learning from nature - by combining natural photonic structures with artificially synthesized materials, it is expected that new functions will emerge while maintaining the original fine structure of nature species, resulting in new materials with high-performance. The talk focuses on the composite design of natural photonic structures and artificial materials, exploring the characteristics of prepared materials under external fields such as magnetism, light, heat, humidity, pH, etc. and the preliminary application of biomimetic structural materials in photothermal and photodynamic therapy.

Speaker

 Prof. Shenmin Zhu

School of Materials Science and Engineering, SJTU

Time

        2023.12.13 12:00-13:30