Smart optical materials are drawing more and more attention because of their wide application in energy conservation, wearable sensors, optical tuning, and medical devices. However, current smart optical materials, including electroresponsive, thermoresponsive, and mechanoresponsive materials, are greatly restricted in practical applications because of their long response time, complicated preparation, and high cost. This study develops a novel, magnetically tunable, smart optical material with swift and high-contrast optical switching based on one-dimensional (1D) Fe3O4@SiO2 nanochains (NCs), which have the large shape anisotropy of the 1D structure and the superparamagnetic properties of Fe3O4 particles. The material exhibited a clear transparent state when NCs were arranged parallel to the viewing direction under an applied magnetic field, whereas it showed good shielding effect when the NCs were randomly oriented upon removal of the field. The light transmittance could be dynamically adjusted over the wide range of 20-80% through a small applied magnetic field of 50-100 Oe, which is superior to most of the currently reported systems. This swift, sensitive, and reversible response is attributed to the good responsivity of magnetic NCs. Also, an effective model was proposed to explain the transmittance modulation scheme and forecast its optical potential. The large tunable range and the low triggered field make Fe3O4@SiO2 NCs an advantageous candidate for application in smart windows, optical switchers, and other fields.
Keywords: core/shell; magnetic control; nanochain; smart optical material; transmittance.