In 1917 Pfund provided the first quantitative explanation for the beautiful iridescence exhibited by mother-of-pearl and certain fish scales. [50]
The effect was identified to originate from very narrowly distributed alternating organic and inorganic lamella resulting in interference colors. Whilst some pigments with similar properties (e.g. basic lead carbonate) were known at the time, it was not until the 1960s that a cheap, non-toxic source of “pearl luster” was developed. This comprised of nano-scale titanium dioxide coatings on 300–600 nm thick mica sheets ( Figure 6a , top left) and is now one of several ubiquitous “special effect pigments” which provide a range of interesting optical properties, in particular for the automotive, cosmetic and consumer electronics industries. [51]
In the last thirty years the technology has expanded considerably to include aluminum flake “metal effect” pigments as well as alumina and silica platelet substrates and multi-layer coatings on flakes. The latter random orientation of the constituent photonic crystal…
Painting by Numbers: Nanoparticle‐Based Colorants in the Post‐Empirical Age
Robin Klupp Taylor Frantisek Seifrt Oleksandr Zhuromskyy Ulf Peschel Günter Leugering Wolfgang Peukert
