Innovate Designs for Upholstery Fabrics Glow in the Dark, Inspired from Islamic Art

Abstract

This research concern on producing upholstery fabrics designs inspired from Islamic art which glowing in dark using strontium aluminate Phosphor. Photoluminescent (PL) material such as Phosphor of strontium aluminate (SrAl2O4: Eu2+, Dy3+) is a kind of energy storage material, it can absorb both ultraviolet (UV) and visible lights from the sunlight and keeps emitting light for a period of time in absence of the illumination source at a certain wave length. The research focused on Islamic art as a source of inspiration due to its richness in the floral, geometric, written, abstract and symbolic motifs. So that we use two pure cotton fabrics (100%) with different operational specifications, one of them (plain 1/1) and the other sample (Basket 3/3). These fabrics were used for producing the (PL) up holstery fabrics with seven different concentrations of strontium aluminate Phosphor (SAOED) pigment ranged from (1: 7 wt.%) using a hand printing method to produce fourteen samples. Our findings that there is a direct relationship between air permeability, bending length in weft & warp direction, tensile strength, elongation and the concentrations of (SAOED). The best sample performance evaluated by radar chart for the given properties is sample (A1) with the quality factor percentage (83.4%). According to the quality factor test result the research team decided applied the five innovate designs inspired from islamic art with the same specification of the sample which achieved a high functional property. The statistical analysis of the questionnaire results shows that the best design idea evaluated by radar chart (design two) with the quality factor percentage (86.4%). Therefore, using strontium aluminate Phosphor is considered a technological method that enriches the aesthetics and functional properties of the upholstery fabric design.