Nanoscience Colloquium: Magnus Jonsson - Dynamic control of light and heat with conducting polymers

Dynamic control of light and heat with conducting polymers 

Magnus Jonsson

Organic Photonics and Nanooptics group, www.mpjonsson.com

Laboratory of Organic Electronics

Linköping University, Sweden

Conducting polymers offer unique ways to control light and heat, which I will illustrate using examples from our recent research. I will first demonstrate that conducting polymers enable a new type of dynamically tuneable plasmonic nanoantennas.^1-5 Such optical nanoantennas form the basis for important applications like optical metasurfaces, but they are traditionally static. By contrast, the optical response of conducting polymer nanoantennas can be dynamically tuned by varying the oxidation state of the polymer, thereby opening for redox-tunable metasurfaces and applications like dynamic flat lenses and video holograms. 

Next, I will introduce novel means for dynamic structural coloration for reflective colour displays.^6-7 Reflective displays form an energy-efficient complement to emissive displays and provide additional benefits such as being suitable for use in bright light. I will describe how we can achieve materials with tunable structural colour for such devices by combining dynamic electroactive functions of conducting polymers with interference effects in thin films. 

In the third example, we utilize the coldness of outer space to passively cool objects on Earth via thermal radiation. This concept, called passive radiative cooling, is explored world-wide as a sustainable complement to energy-consuming cooling methods which currently consume around 10% of all electricity used globally. Our recent research shows that conducting polymers can be used to electrically tune the radiative cooling power, offering temperature regulation of objects at ambient conditions by tuning their ability to radiate heat.^8-9 The concept is based on modulating the infrared emissivity of our devices, which also offer means for adaptable camouflage and anticounterfeiting.¹⁰ 

1. Conductive polymer nanoantennas for dynamic organic plasmonics. 
S. Chen et al. Nature Nanotechnology 2020, 15, 35-40.

2. Electrical Tuning of Plasmonic Conducting Polymer Nanoantennas. 
A. Karki et al. Advanced Materials 2022, 34, 13, 2107172

3. Doped Semiconducting Polymer Nanoantennas for Tunable Organic Plasmonics. 
A. Karki et al. Communications Materials 2022, 2022, 3, 48

4. Dynamic Conducting Polymer Plasmonics and Metasurfaces. 
S. Chen and M. P. Jonsson. ACS Photonics 2023, 10, 3, 571–581

5. Tuneable anisotropic plasmonics with shape-symmetric conducting polymer nanoantennas
Y. Duan, et al. Advanced Materials 2023, 35, 51, 2303949.

6. Dynamically tuneable reflective structural colouration with electroactive conducting polymer nanocavities. S. Rossi et al. Advanced Materials 2021, 33, 40, 2105004

7. Tunable structural color images by UV-patterned conducting polymer nanofilms on metal surfaces. 
S. Chen et al. Advanced Materials 2021, 33, 33, 2102451

8. Cellulose-based Radiative Cooling and Solar Heating Powers Ionic Thermoelectrics
M. Liao, et al. Advanced Science 2023, 10, 2206510

9. ElectricalTuning of Radiative Cooling at Ambient Conditions 
D. Banerjee et al. Cell Reports Physical Science, 2023, 4, 101274

10. Electrically tunable infrared optics enabled by flexible ion-permeable conducting polymer-cellulose paper 

C. Kuang et al. npj Flexible Electronics 2024, in press