(SiO2/PEI) n films with structural colors on polyester fabrics were fabricated using negatively charged SiO2 nanoparticles and positively charged polyethyleneimine (PEI) using the electrostatic self-assembly approach. The bright and variable structural colors of polyester fabrics coated with a (SiO2/PEI) n film were investigated through the color photos captured by a digital camera, and also through the reflectance spectra and the images measured by a DigiEye system and a multi-angle spectrophotometer. The morphological structure of (SiO2/PEI) n films was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the electrostatic self-assembly process and the driving forces of fabricating the (SiO2/PEI) n films were investigated and schematically illustrated. The results showed that the structural colors varied with the various assembly cycles and viewing angles; both the optical properties indicated by the structural colors and the morphological structures illustrated by the SEM images confirmed that the (SiO2/PEI) n film on a polyester fabric was a homogeneous porous composite monolayer, with structural colors originated from single thin film interference; the self-assembly process of (SiO2/PEI) n film on a polyester fabric was driven by multi-forces, with dominant forces equilibrium of electrostatic attraction and repulsion.

Structural coloration is a kind of biomimetic coloring technology. (Silica/polyethyleneimine) n (SiO2/PEI) n films with structural color on the surface of silk fabrics were fabricated by the electrostatic self-assembly method. The structural color of silk fabrics with (SiO2/PEI) n films was captured by a digital camera, and the reflectance spectra were measured by the DigiEye system and a multi-angle spectrophotometer. The morphological structure of (SiO2/PEI) n films on silk fabrics was observed by a field emission scanning electron microscope. The coloring mechanism of the silk fabrics is in agreement with single thin film interference theory, and the variability of the structural color on the silk fabrics is similar to those on polyester fabrics varying with the assembly cycles, particle sizes and viewing angles. However, the color brilliance, brightness and iridescence effect of the silk fabrics are inferior to those of polyester fabrics with the same films, due mainly to the differences in fiber surface structure and microstructure between silk fibers and polyester fibers.

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