Incorporating structural coloured materials in flexible and stretchable elastomeric substrates requires numerous steps that compromise their scalability and economic viability for prospective applications in visual sensors and displays. Here we describe a one-step approach for fabricating plasmonic Ga nanostructures embedded in a polydimethylsiloxane substrate exhibiting tunable chromaticity, in response to mechanical stimuli. The process exploits the capillary interactions between uncrosslinked oligomeric chains of the substrate and Ga metal deposited by thermal evaporation, as elucidated by a theoretical model that we developed. By tuning the oligomer content in polydimethylsiloxane, we attain a range of colours covering a substantial gamut in CIE (Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage) coordinates. This mechanochromic flexible substrate shows reversible response to external mechanical stimuli for ~80,000 cycles. We showcase the capabilities of our processing technique by presenting prototypes of reflective displays and sensors for monitoring body parts, smart bandages and the capacity of the nanostructured film to map force in real time.

将结构彩色材料纳入柔性和可拉伸的弹性体基材中需要许多步骤，这会损害其在视觉传感器和显示器中的潜在应用的可扩展性和经济可行性。在这里，我们描述了一种一步法，用于制造嵌入聚二甲基硅氧烷基底中的等离子体 Ga 纳米结构，该纳米结构表现出可调谐色度，响应机械刺激。正如我们开发的理论模型所阐明的，该过程利用了基板的未交联低聚链与热蒸发沉积的 Ga 金属之间的毛细管相互作用。通过调整聚二甲基硅氧烷中的低聚物含量，我们获得了一系列覆盖 CIE（国际照明委员会）坐标色域的颜色。这种机械致变色柔性基板对外部机械刺激表现出可逆响应约 80,000 次循环。我们通过展示用于监测身体部位的反射显示器和传感器原型、智能绷带以及纳米结构薄膜实时映射力的能力来展示我们的处理技术的能力。