Hidden Structural Colors from Bistable, Electrically Driven Covalent Organic Framework Photonic Assemblies for Secure Optical Encoding.

ABSTRACT: Optical encryption using nanostructured materials provides a powerful route for secure data encoding. In this work, an electrically reconfigurable colloidal photonic platform based on covalent organic framework (COF) particles is described, enabling dynamic and bistable data encryption. Spatially controlled electrophoretic assembly of monodisperse COF particles within patterned cells produces Bragg reflections that are visible only under bright-field (BF) microscopy as strong broadband scattering from nanoscale particle surface roughness conceals the encoded states from the naked eye. By tuning the synthesis time, the particle surface roughness and, thus, the degree of concealment can be precisely controlled. Unlike conventional optical systems, where scattering degrades visibility, we rep

SUBMITTER: Zorlu T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12810473 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature