What does soft matter physics have to do with bird feathers? @ Yale University

Author(s):

Author(s): J. D. Forster, H. Noh, S. F. Liew, V. Saranahan, C. F. Schreck, L. Yang, J. –G. Park, R. O. Prum, C. S. O’Hern, S. G. J. Mochrie, H. Cao, and E. R. Dufresne (Yale University)

Many species of birds have feathers with colors that are the result of light scattering from a disordered arrangement of nanoscale air spheres. The feathers appear to be the same color from every angle. Inspired by these beautiful feathers, we design structures of polymer nanoparticles that produce color the same way. This is a new way to make color from nanostructures and could be useful for textiles, coatings, and cosmetics.