The structural color of red rose petals and their duplicates.

The observation of the surface of a red rose petal indicates that there are micropapillae on the surface and many nanofolders exist on each papilla. Here, much tinier nanorods with periodic pattern on the nanofolders can be seen by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). Angle-resolved UV-vis spectral measurement and reflectance UV-vis spectra by immersion red rose petal in solvents with different refractive indices demonstrate that such periodic nanostructures can induce structural color. The combination of structural color, driven by the nanostructures, and chemical color, driven by pigments, provide flowers bright color and special functions for human and animals' visual system. Biomimic polymer films, that fabricated by duplicating the petal's hierarchical micro/nano structures, exhibit only structural color by UV-vis spectra since there is no pigment introduced.