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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Professor of Chemistry and Bio-materials

Photonic structures in Nature and Bio-mimetic Materials

Research Interests

Photonic structures in nature

Colour in nature is everywhere: animals and plants develop structures on sub-micrometer scale to manipulate light and to obtain brilliant and iridescent colours. This kind of colouration, named structural since it is not obtained using pigmentation, results from various mechanisms, including multilayered materials, crystalline inclusions and surface diffraction gratings. Pollia condensata fruits are one of the most striking examples of  strong iridescent colouration in plants. The colour is caused by Bragg-reflection of helicoidally stacked cellulose microfibrils, which form multilayers in the cell walls of the epicarp. The bright blue colour of this fruit is more intense than that of many previously described biological materials. Uniquely in nature, the reflected colour differs from cell to cell, as the layer thicknesses in the multilayer stack vary, giving the fruit a striking pixelated or ’pointillist’ appearance.

PNAS 109, 15712–15715, (2012)
 

Another striking example is the white of the Cyphochilus beetle which is native to South-East Asia, is whiter than paper, thanks to ultra-thin scales which cover its body. A new investigation of the optical properties of these scales has shown that they are able to scatter light more efficiently than any other biological tissue known, which is how they are able to achieve such a bright whiteness.

Scientific Reports 4, 6075 doi:10.1038/srep06075 (2014)

Funding

  1. BBSRC David Phillips fellowship
  2. Next Generation fellowship
  3. Isaac Newton Trust

Watch Professor Vignolini discuss her research

Take a tour of the Vignolini lab

Selected Publications

[1] Pointillist structural colour in Pollia fruit

S. Vignolini, P. J. Rudall, A. V. Rowland, A. Reed, E. Moyroud, R. B. Faden, J. J. Baumberg, B. J. Glover, U. Steiner; PNAS 109, 15712–15715, (2012). 

[2] Controlled bio-inspired self-assembly of cellulose-based chiral reflectors 

A. G. Dumanli, G. Kamita, J. Landman, H. van der Kooij, B. J. Glover, J. J. Baumberg, U Steiner, S. Vignolini;  Adv. Opt. Mat. DOI: 10.1002/adom.201400112  (2014)
 

[3]Bright-White Beetle scales Optimise Multiple Scattering of Light

M. Burresi, L. Cortese, L. Pattelli, M. Kolle, P.Vukusic, D. Wiersma, U. Steiner, and S.Vignolini; Scientific Reports 4, 6075 doi:10.1038/srep06075 (2014)

 

Publications

Influence of structural colour on the photoprotective mechanism in the gametophyte phase of the red alga Chondrus crispus.
AG Fleitas, S Sardar, MM Arnould-Pétré, M Murace, S Vignolini, J Brodie, G Lanzani, C D'Andrea
– Journal of the Royal Society Interface
(2024)
21,
20230676
Inkjet Printed Photonic Cellulose Nanocrystal Patterns.
CA Williams, RM Parker, A Kyriacou, M Murace, S Vignolini
– Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
(2023)
36,
e2307563
Structural Color from Cellulose Nanocrystals or Chitin Nanocrystals: Self-Assembly, Optics, and Applications
B Frka-Petesic, TG Parton, C Honorato-Rios, A Narkevicius, K Ballu, Q Shen, Z Lu, Y Ogawa, J Haataja, B Droguet, RM Parker, S Vignolini
– Chemical reviews
(2023)
123,
12595
Light in correlated disordered media
K Vynck, R Pierrat, R Carminati, LS Froufe-Pérez, F Scheffold, R Sapienza, S Vignolini, JJ Sáenz
– Reviews of Modern Physics
(2023)
95,
045003
Light management by algal aggregates in living photosynthetic hydrogels
ST Chua, A Smith, S Murthy, M Murace, H Yang, M Kühl, P Cicuta, A Smith, D Wangpraseurt, S Vignolini
(2023)
Topological invariance in whiteness optimisation
JS Haataja, G Jacucci, TG Parton, L Schertel, S Vignolini
– Communications Physics
(2023)
6,
137
Liquid Crystal-Templated Porous Microparticles via Photopolymerization of Temperature-Induced Droplets in a Binary Liquid Mixture
M Patel, A Alvarez-Fernandez, MJ Fornerod, ANP Radhakrishnan, A Taylor, S Ten Chua, S Vignolini, B Schmidt-Hansberg, A Iles, S Guldin
– ACS Omega
(2023)
8,
20404
Bio-inspired Photonic Materials from Cellulose: Fabrication, Optical Analysis and Applications
RM Parker, TG Parton, CLC Chan, MM Bay, B Frka-Petesic, S Vignolini
– Accounts of materials research
(2023)
4,
522
Brilliant whiteness in shrimp from ultra-thin layers of birefringent nanospheres
T Lemcoff, L Alus, JS Haataja, A Wagner, G Zhang, MJ Pavan, VJ Yallapragada, S Vignolini, D Oron, L Schertel, BA Palmer
– Nature Photonics
(2023)
17,
485
Exploiting the Thermotropic Behavior of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose to Produce Edible Photonic Pigments
S Ming, X Zhang, C Chan, Z Wang, M Bay, R Parker, S Vignolini
– Advanced Sustainable Systems
(2023)
7,
2200469
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Research Group

Research Interest Groups

Telephone number

01223 761490 (shared)

Email address

sv319@cam.ac.uk