Facile Fabrication of Amorphous Photonic Structures with Non-Iridescent and Highly-Stable Structural Color on Textile Substrates

Abstract

Amorphous photonic structures with non-iridescent and highly-stable structural color were fabricated via a simple one-step spray-coating technique. With this strategy, the obtained films on textile substrates presented short-ordered and amorphous photonic structures (APSs) similar to the amorphous nanostructures of avian feathers. The structural color presented the same hue when viewed at different angles and could be well controlled by varying the diameters of the SiO2 nanospheres. The prepared fabrics with structural color exhibited high color stability due to stability in both the assembled physical structure and the refractive index. The high stability of the assembled physical structure was attributed to the cementing effect of Poly(methylmethacrylate-butylacrylate) P(MMA-BA) existing between textile substrate and SiO2 nanospheres and among SiO2 nanospheres, while the high stability in the refractive index was contributed by the liquid-resistance achieved by both the surface roughness and the low-surface-energy of the as-sprayed APSs. With the resistances to external forces and liquid invasion, the non-iridescent brilliant structural color of the as-prepared fabrics could be kept steady. In this study, an approach of fabricating APSs with non-iridescent and stable structural color was established to enhance its potential application in structural coloration of textiles, and other color-related smart textiles.

Self-assembly of colloidal particles into amorphous photonic crystals

“…71 Besides using hydrophobic colloidal particles as building blocks, 35,45 spraying a hydrophobic solution on an array of APCs is also a commonly used strategy to prepare the hydrophobic APCs. 37,73,97 Different from above, Wang et al developed a method to assemble underwater superoleophobic APCs films with the rough-surface PS@TiO 2 nanoparticles (Fig. 2c).…”

“…11 The coherent scattering of light by an isotropic photonic pseudogap creates noniridescent structural colors. [12][13][14][15] According to their unique structure, APCs show great potential of various applications in sensors, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32] printings, [33][34][35][36][37][38][39] displays, 17,30,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] and anti-counterfeitings. 45,[51][52][53][54][55][56][57] Fig.…”

Structural Colored Fabrics with Brilliant Colors, Low Angle Dependence, and High Color Fastness Based on the Mie Scattering of Cu2O Spheres

“…Recently, some approaches have been applied to color fabrics with structural color materials. − Among them, the most commonly applied method is forming a close-packed photonic crystal (PC) − structure or an amorphous photonic structure (APS) − on the surface of fabrics using polystyrene (PS), SiO 2 , and other low-refractive-index spheres ( n < 1.6) as a building block. Large-area structural colored fabrics were prepared by assembling PS spheres into ordered PCs on the surface of fabrics .…”

Preparation of biomimetic non-iridescent structural color based on polystyrene–polycaffeic acid core–shell nanospheres

“…The color fastness and washing resistance of structurally color fabric was examined by a sandpaper abrasion test and simulated washing test, respectively. 23,24 The UV protection factor (UPF) of the cotton fabric was measured using a Lab Sphere UV-1000F transmission analyzer (Lab sphere, Inc., North Sutton, VA USA). The average of four tests on a single layer fabric was taken as the measurement result.…”