Bioinspired Color Switchable Photonic Crystal Silicone Elastomer Kirigami

Bioinspired dynamic structural color has great potential for use in dynamic displays, sensors, cryptography, and camouflage. However, it is quite rare for artificial structural color devices to withstand thousands of cycles. Male hummingbird's crowns and gorgets are brightly colored, demonstrating frequent color switching that is induced by regulating the orientation of the feathers through movement of skin or joints. Inspired by this unique structural color modulation, we demonstrate a flexible, mechanically triggered color switchable sheet based on a photonic crystal (PhC)‐coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) kirigami (PhC‐PDMS kirigami) made by laser cutting. Finite element modeling (FEM) simulation reveals that the thickness of PDMS kirigami and the chamfer at the incision induced by laser cutting both dominate the out‐of‐plane deformation through in‐plane stretching. The bioinspired PhC‐PDMS kirigami shows precisely programmable structural color and keeps the color very well after recycling over 10 000 times. This bioinspired PhC‐PDMS kirigami also shows excellent viewability even in bright sunlight, high readability, robust functionality, technical flexibility, and mechanical durability, which are readily exploitable for applications, such as chromic mechanical monitors for the sports industry or for medical applications, wearable camouflage, and security systems. The color of photonic crystal‐coated polydimethylsiloxane kirigami sheets (PhC‐PDMS kirigami) can be switched mechanically. The material offers programmable structural color, which is retained after recycling >10 000 times. The visibility of PhC‐PDMS kirigami is high—even in bright sunlight—and technical flexibility and mechanical durability are achieved.