Morpho peleides butterfly wing imprints as structural colour stamp

Abstract

This study presents the replication of a color-causing nanostructure based on the upper laminae of numerous cover scales of Morpho peleides butterfly wings and obtained solely by imprinting their upper-wing surfaces. Our results indicate that a simple casting technique using a novel integrated release agent can obtain a large positive replica using negative imprints via Polyvinylsiloxane. The developed method is low-tech and high-yield and is thus substantially easier and less expensive than previous methods. The microstructures were investigated with light microscopy, the nanostructures with both scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and the reflections with UV visible spectrometry. The influence of the release agent and the quality of the master stamp were determined by comparing measurements of the cover-scale sizes and their chromaticity values obtained by their images and with their positive imprints. The master stamp provided multiple positive replicas up to 3 cm2 in just 1 h with structural coloration effects visible to the naked eye. Thus, the developed method proves the accuracy of the replicated nanostructure and its potential industrial application as a color-producing nanostamp.