Real-time quantitative optical method to study temperature dependence of crack propagation process in colloidal photonic crystal film

A real-time quantitative optical method to characterize crack propagation in colloidal photonic crystal film (CPCF) is developed based on particle deformation models and previous real-time crack observations. The crack propagation process and temperature dependence of the crack propagation rate in CPCF are investigated. By this method, the crack propagation rate is found to slow down gradually to zero when cracks become more numerous and dense. Meanwhile, with the temperature increasing, the crack propagation rate constant decreases. The negative temperature dependence of the crack propagation rate is due to the increase of van der Waals attraction, which finally results in the decrease of resultant force. The findings provide new insight into the crack propagation process in CPCF.