All-plastics distributed Bragg reflectors for sensing and thermal shielding applications

Year by year, the importance of plastic nanostructures in photonics is increasing. Indeed, polymers represent an interesting alternative to more traditional metal oxides, being easily processable and allowing for light, free-standing and flexible structures. In the field of energy efficiency and sustainability, we bring in two positive examples of the use of plastic photonic crystals: sensing and thermal shielding. In sensing they allow for easy detection of analytes, such as the byproducts of food degradation; a colour change identifies the spoilage, with possible application of these plastic sensors in smart packaging applications. On the other hand, they can be of interest for thermal shielding applications. Indeed, they can be engineered as thin, transparent films able to reduce indoor heating by sunlight and in turn the energy consumption related to the use of air conditioning.