Neutron research at NIST reveals the secret to a gel's unusual ability to precisely filter light.

View as a Web Page Novel Gel Proves Itself to Be Highly Tunable Color Filter Color these scientists happy. An exotic gel they studied at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has an unexpected property: The material's temperature determines which color of light can pass through it. The material, which the research team calls "SeedGel," already has shown promise as a multipurpose tool, with applications ranging from batteries to water filters to tissue engineering. The team's new paper, appearing in Nature Communications, highlights the gel's newfound capability as a temperature-sensitive light filter. Shine white light at the gel, and depending on the gel's temperature, only a specific wavelength, or color, will pass through it. A temperature change of less than a tenth of a degree Celsius can be enough to alter the permitted wavelength, which can be any color in the visible range as well as parts of the ultraviolet and infrared. Read More IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Nanoparticle Gel Unites Oil and Water in Manufacturing-Friendly Approach Feb. 10, 2021 Oil and water may not mix, but adding the right nanoparticles to the recipe can convert these two immiscible fluids into an exotic gel with uses ranging from batteries to water filters to tint-changing smart windows. A new approach to creating this unusual class of soft materials could carry them out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. Read More

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