Atomization deposition fabricating angle-independent structural colored fabrics with outstanding stability, hydrophobicity, flexibility and breathability

Abstract

Structural colored fabrics based on colloidal photonic crystals (CPCs) have attracted increasing concerns benefitting from the fadeless and environmental-friendly properties, which might promote the revolution of traditional textile printing and dyeing industry. However, enhancing the structural stability of CPCs on fabrics in a high efficiency and easy-to-perform manner still remains challenges. Here, we constructed novel brilliant angle-independent structural colored fabrics through atomization deposition fabricating poly(hexafluorobutyl acrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (poly(HFBA-co-GMA)) CPCs on polyester (PET) fabrics. On the one hand, the hexafluorobutyl groups on poly(HFBA-co-GMA) colloidal microspheres endow the fabrics with excellent hydrophobicity. On the other hand, the hexafluorobutyl groups are able to generate strong hydrogen bonding interactions with carboxyl groups on PET fabrics, providing the structural colored fabrics with outstanding structural stability. Moreover, excellent flexibility, outstanding breathability, patterning and large-scale production of structural colored fabrics were also realized. This work offers a brand-new fashion towards manufacturing high performance structural colored fabrics, which might hold the potential in industrial eco-friendly coloration technology.