Magneto-sensitive photonic crystal ink for quick printing of smart devices with structural colors

In this paper, we report a facile strategy to combine magneto-responsive photonic crystal (MRPC) ink with 3D printing technology. The building blocks of MRPC are based on Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticle clusters (MNCs) with uniform and tunable size. The MNC dispersion is able to change its photonic band gap from red to blue as the external magnetic field strength is increased. The magneto-responsive photonic crystal ink can be readily obtained by taking advantage of an ethylene glycol (EG)-in-oil emulsion with a reinforced silicone rubber prepolymer as the outer phase. Using the well-designed formula, the MNC dispersion can be well-preserved inside the emulsion droplets of the ink, maintaining its original contactless magnetic field response. As a proof of concept, custom quick response code and butterfly patterns were successfully printed and showed vivid and tunable color as a function of the external magnetic field strength with good repeatability.