Highly Stable Microcapsules of Colloidal Photonic Ink in Nonpolar Medium for Full Color E-Skin Device

The colloidal dispersion in a nonpolar medium is an essential material for electrophoretic displays (EPD) with low-power consumption. A uniform-sized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPION) is a promising candidate for EPD, which exhibits tunable structural color by Bragg diffraction. In this study, the surface of SPION is charged in a nonpolar medium by inverse micelles of Solsperse-17k, an oil-soluble polymeric surfactant. A photonic ink of SPION dispersion exhibits simultaneous magnetochromism and electrochromism. The photonic ink is encapsulated via a complex coacervation process, in which double layers of gelatin/gum Arabic form a stable shell for & mu;-capsule. The & mu;-capsules show tunable structural colors, which depends upon the size of SPION in photonic ink. The increased surfactant content in photonic ink brings about a decrease in & mu;-capsule size due to a reduced surface tension. A lowered gelatin concentration during coacervation results in a smaller & mu;-capsule, which exhibits an electrical color tunability. Optical characterization using a confocal microscopy enables 3D visualization of the inner structure of & mu;-capsules and the formation of particle chain structure of SPION in H-field. The encapsulated photonic ink exhibits magnetochromism for 1 year, illuminating the long-term stability of & mu;-capsules developed in this study.