I must have it.

There's no display for what color you're choosing.

@Anonymous: No display? Just hold a white card up to the nozzle and press the button.

@Anonymous: and waste this obviously expensive spray-paint?
why don't you HOLD IT TO YOUR FACE BUDDY

@newalexandria: Making metal nanoparticles is easy. I did it in a class. I think I saw a paper where they mixed silver nitrate and cinnamon and made silver nanoparticles (it took 24 hours or something).

Semiconducting nanoparticles are a different story.

@newalexandria: Wouldn't work, the colors on those guitar picks are created by varying the thickness of the oxide formed on the surface, creating a thin film which only reflects specific wavelengths of light due to constructive and destructive interference. It's the same principle that causes interference patterns to form in thin layers of oil.

I think you guys are awesome when you can discuss about how you could actually pull out that concept.

@Anonymous: I know a lot more about pulling off than out :D

Might be able to do this DIY by connecting three or four different cans of spray paint, cyan, magenta, yellow and optionally black (for truer dark colors) together through a series of pressurized pipes and valves. Each valve would control flow rate for that color. You'd have to find a way to safely remove the existing spray nozzles on the cans without them depressurizing or exploding. Simply creating an aparatus where the nozzle was pressed down as you inserted the can into the pipes might work, but it'd waste some paint and would probably not produce enough pressure for the paint to emerge at the far end. The other problem with this is that the overall device would be somewhat unwieldy as it would consist of three or four cans and the connective piping. By using half-size cans and aluminum or PVC pipe you could cut down the weight a lot.

Anyway with that much complexity, you'd probably be better off just using an airbrush. However if you had the resources (i.e. owned a plant that manufactured spray cans plus an R+D department) it'd totally be possible to manufacture a can like the one above using the technique described.

@Anonymous: 1. give me a citation that the oxide properties are based on thickness of the coating.
2. Even then, you have not invalidated the 'color-ability' of particles via voltage-specific oxidation. (unless you mean that 2D structure of the film is critical. I understand that it would be bio-iridescence, but I've not seen yet that it applies here).
3. I'm not sure that nano-particles are truly necessary, just well-prepared Ti particles - which could be large enough to nucleate a color-creating oxide layer.
4. this Ti-oxidation design creates a single reserve, rather than suffering depletion of a single component source. Work would have to stop, and – in scenarios that are compact, where time is over-sensitive, etc – that wouldn't be acceptable.

@Anonymous: >undergrad detected
go read som pop/sci/

@newalexandria: "bio-iridescence"
Can you define it and explain why it would be relevant to a synthetic film with no biological components?

@exALLthewhy: because you're aim is trolling; no.

also, context gave your answer.

@newalexandria: Trolling? It was just the only part of your post that sounded out of place. I've never heard of bio-iridescence in that context, unless you are using it in the sense of bio-mimicry, such as the highly iridescent and/or angular dependent spectra reflected from certain insect wings, for example, due to their 2D or 3D microstructure (photonic crystal lattice formation, etc.). Why use the "bio" suffix?

@newalexandria: Also, iridescence would be undesirable, since, by definition, the colour would change with observation angle; not ideal for conventional spray artworks, but it would be a nice effect. (I realise you weren't championing for it, either way.)

More fundamentally, I'm not sure I'd want Ti micro/nano-particles being dispersed about the place, unless you could guarantee that they would be secured inside a self-curing solvent substrate upon application, say. The effect of such particles on health is still poorly known (more due to their size than their constituent materials). Even if they could be secured, their liberation upon paint removal could produce a concern similar to that of asbestos today.

@exALLthewhy: Really, I only used it that way because the people I know who study the optical properties of butterfly wings use that term.

I really wasn't championing for any of my errata to #2. I was focusing on what particle size is needed to generate an optical effect.

And yes, this whole argument is still pre-ethics.

@exALLthewhy: also, 'thanks' for the combo-breaker..... we were on something of a roll.

Then... Troll(s).

So, please dig us up a research article on Ti-oxidation for the hassle.

@newalexandria: Peer review is still an important part of the invention process ;)

@Anonymous: Wouldn't that be in CMYK?

@Anonymous: And "iridescence" results from the increased phase accumulation (longer optical path) of the penetrating wave with increasing normal incidence angle, i.e., con/de-structive interference (and everything in between) shifts to different wavelengths as the viewing angle is changed. This effect is mentioned in the "Titanium Art" link above: "The angle of viewing, and type of light source will also influence color." Based on this, it'd be safe to assume the oxide layer coloration does indeed result from thin film interference, as yourself and others have discussed above.

@exALLthewhy: inb4 "zomglol, you can make black from CMY." With a black reservoir, it's more like modern printer cartridges: it would probably produce better results and use less of the CMY colours when black or a darker shade is required.

Hoooly Mooooley. HOW GOOD ARE TITS! eh??? ( . Y . ) !!!!

@Anonymous: EPIC use of perspective!

@exALLthewhy: glad you posted That for the starry-eyed. Do you go to Boston U, or that was just your fav source for interference diagrams?

If we're going to invent new IP on the internet, we need a little more than prosaic assertions of germane optical physics. So go use your library access and dig up some real articles from material physics journals. Yes, glory be, you may even have to set the search parameters to include articles published before 1971 and – the horror – you might even have to put in a request via inter-library loan.

I've done this work and now I build shit for a living. Man up and make something, brainiac.

@newalexandria: I didn't post the diagram, just added to the post.

I wasn't aware we were actually setting up a research project here. Maybe we should investigate some appropriate channels for funding.

Do you think Moot would be open to the creation of a "research" canv.as group?

@exALLthewhy: my apologies.

@newalexandria: You don't have to apologise to me; I'm enjoying this thread, Nyan cat boobs and all.

Anyone have a citation on the relationship between particle size / dimension and the electro-deposition of the diffractive-film?

E.G., this article could suggest that the right mix of Ti, VoC, and e-field could augment the film development process. Perhaps it's a 2-stage e field process; prime the film, then set its color.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167577X0100581X

Happy Valentine's, #abstract

@newalexandria: WAT