A facile method of shielding from UV damage by polymer photonic crystals |
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| Authors: | Jingxia Wang Jie Liang Huimeng Wu Wenfang Yuan Yongqiang Wen Yanlin Song Lei Jiang |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, PR China;2. Laboratory of New Materials, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, PR China |
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| Abstract: | BACKGROUND: UV radiation is a potent and ubiquitous carcinogen, which is responsible for most of the skin cancer in the human population. General UV protection materials may produce dangerous degradation products under UV irradiation; therefore, safe, nontoxic and simple UV protection approaches are urgent requirements. RESULTS: A series of photonic crystals with stopband covering the range 200–400 nm have been fabricated which can shield radiation from the whole UV range. Both UV‐visible and 1H NMR results confirm the effective protection from UV light of 254 nm. CONCLUSIONS: A facile method for UV protection has been demonstrated by utilizing the unusual optical properties of photonic crystals that can inhibit light propagation at a given frequency without specific requirement of chemical composition. This approach opens a new way to protect from UV damage using safe materials, which is of great significance for extending the practical applications of photonic crystals. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry |
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| Keywords: | colloidal crystals macroporous polymer polymer photonic crystals UV protection |
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