Article

Article

All news stories

Chameleon colors: A sustainable technique to 3D print multiple dynamic colors from a single ink

Beckman Institute researchers developed a technique to 3D print and alter structural colors in the visible wavelength spectrum from deep blue to orange. The UV-assisted direct-ink-write 3D printing approach is capable of altering structural color during the printing process to create vibrant and potentially more sustainable colors.
Published on Feb. 19, 2024

Chameleon Colors coauthors pose for photo in the Beckman Institute Atrium Top row, left to right: Professors Simon Rogers, Ying Diao, Charles Sing, and Damien Guironnet. Bottom row, left to right: Yash Kamble, Sanghyun Jeon, Jiachun Shi, Haisu Kang, and Tianyuan Pan. Not pictured: Matthew Wade and Bijal Patel. Credit: Jenna Kurtzweil, Beckman Institute Communications Office.

Inspired by the color-changing ability of chameleons, researchers developed a sustainable technique to 3D-print multiple, dynamic colors from a single ink.

“By designing new chemistries and printing processes, we can modulate structural color on the fly to produce color gradients not possible before,” said Ying Diao, an associate professor of chemistry and chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a researcher at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

The study appears in the journal PNAS.

“This work is a great illustration of the power of collaboration,” said coauthor Damien Guironnet, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

A 3D printed illustration of a chameleon on black background. Color gradient shifts from orange (at head) to blue (at tail). Inspired by the color-changing abilities of chameleons, researchers developed a dynamic and sustainable color-changing ink seen in this 3D printed chameleon illustration created by the research team. Credit: Sanghyun Jeon, Diao Lab. In this study, Diao and her colleagues present a UV-assisted direct-ink-write 3D printing approach capable of altering structural color during the printing process by tuning light to control evaporative assembly of specially designed crosslinking polymers.

“Unlike traditional colors which come from chemical pigments or dyes that absorb light, the structural colors abundant in many biological systems come from nano-textured surfaces that interfere with visible light. This makes them more vibrant and potentially more sustainable,” said Sanghyun Jeon, the lead author and a graduate student in the Diao Lab.

The researchers can produce structural colors in the visible wavelength spectrum from deep blue to orange. While an artist might use many different paints to achieve this color gradient, the research team uses a single ink and modifies how it is printed to create the color gradient.

“The work shows the benefit of us all having learned from each other by sharing our successes and challenges,” said coauthor Simon Rogers, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

“Only by working together could we design this system at the molecular level to yield such fascinating properties," said coauthor Charles Sing, an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and materials science and engineering.


Editor's note:

The paper, titled "Direct-Ink-Write Crosslinkable Bottlebrush Block Polymers for On-the-fly Control of Structural color," is available online at https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2313617121

Contact Ying Diao at yingdiao@illinois.edu

Media contact: Jenna Kurtzweil, kurtzwe2@illinois.edu

In this article

  • Charles Sing
    Charles Sing's directory photo.
  • Damien Guironnet
    Damien Guironnet's directory photo.
  • Simon Rogers
    Simon Rogers's directory photo.
  • Sanghyun Jeon
    Photo placeholder
  • Tianyuan Pan
    Tianyuan Pan's directory photo.
  • Ying Diao
    Ying Diao's directory photo.

More stories by topic