Iridescent thin films of porous anodic aluminum oxide with embedded silver nanowires

•Porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) with embedded Ag nanowires is prepared.•Ag-nanowire embedded AAO films have low refractive index.•Ag addition improved color saturation of the films.•A simple organic-assisted method is applied to make a series of patterns.

Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) embedded Ag with iridescent colors were fabricated by using an AC electrochemical deposition technique. It was found that by changing the oxidation time of the aluminum in a phosphoric acid electrolyte, anodic aluminum oxide composite films can be made to have different colors. Compared to the color saturation of alumina films, the color saturation of AAO/Ag composite films was dramatically increased. The mechanisms for films displaying brilliant colors were discussed, and provide experimental results for iridescent patterns that were prepared by an organics-assisted method. AAO/Ag films with structural color can be used in many areas, including display, decoration, and anti-counterfeiting technology.