Discovery of the dichroic effect in cuprous oxide particles for the development of novel composite materials that change colour with direction of light source

摘要

When a material appears one colour in transmitted light but a different colour in reflected light it is known as the dichroic effect. This has been illustrated as early as the 4th century by the famous Lycurgus cup, however the effect is still poorly understood. We present cuprous oxide (Cu_2O) particles that display the dichroic effect in solution. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time dichroic Cu_2O materials have been reported.