Full Color Camouflage in a Printable Photonic Blue-Colored Polymer

A blue reflective photonic polymer coating which can be patterned in full color, from blue to red, by printing with an aqueous calcium nitrate solution has been fabricated. Color change in the cholesteric liquid-crystalline polymer network over the entire visible spectrum is obtained by the use of nonreactive mesogen. The pattern in the coating is hidden in the blue color dry state and appears upon exposure to water or by exhaling breath onto it due to different degrees of swelling of the polymer network. The degree of swelling depends on the printed amount of calcium which acts as a cross-linker. The printed full color pattern can also be hidden simply by using a circular polarizer. The responsive full color camouflage polymers are interesting for various applications ranging from responsive house and automobile decors to anticounterfeit labels and data encryption.