Abstract
Gao et al. have proposed a facile method of silica nanoparticle synthesis called the solvent varying technique (SVT). Silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have been synthesized using the SVT. The diameters of the SNPs produced by these recipes are sensitive to drying temperature especially when they are used to form photonic crystal films on the surface of textiles. The colour appearance of the coated fabrics can be affected by unused reactants from the colloidal suspensions. These form a thin layer on the surface of the SNPs, which can adversely affect the constructive interference of light from the photonic crystal. In this paper, the original SNP solutions have been processed using a centrifuge and solvent replacement technique in order to reduce this problem. A TEM was used to record the morphology of the surface of the original and centrifuged particles. The resultant images show that there were fewer impurities present on the surface of the centrifuged SNPs than that of the original SNPs. DLS was used to measure the diameters and dispersion of the original and the centrifuged particles. A spectrophotometer was used to measure the reflectance of the samples. The chromaticities of the coated fabrics using both the original and centrifuged SNPs dried at a range of temperatures (40 °C, 60 °C, 80 °C and 100 °C) have been compared. It was determined that the centrifuged SNPs could be dried at higher temperatures than previously reported with little effect on the colour appearance of the photonic crystals.Graphical abstract
Highlights
In the textile industry, coloured fabrics are generally produced using the application of dyestuffs (Santamaría Razo et al 2008)
This paper reports that centrifuging the original Silica nanoparticles (SNPs) solutions can significantly improve the chroma of the coated fabrics
Drying the original SNP solutions produced from the SV technique produces Photonic crystals (PCs) that display desaturated
Summary
In the textile industry, coloured fabrics are generally produced using the application of dyestuffs (Santamaría Razo et al 2008). Gao et al used the gravitational sedimentation method to coat fabrics with silica nanoparticles (SNPs) This produced silica photonic crystals on the surface of cotton and nylon substrates. The samples were dried at 60 °C in the oven and structural colours were successfully produced (Gao et al 2017a, b) In this investigation, the solvent varying technique (SVT) suggested by Gao et al (Gao et al 2016a) has been used to create batches of “original” silica nanoparticles (O-SNPs). The tubes were placed into an ultrasonic water bath (Ultrawave U95) for 30 min to ensure the silica nanoparticles were adequately dispersed in the EtOH In this investigation, the black polyester fabrics were cut into circles with a diameter of 25 mm which would cover the bottom of a glass tube of the same diameter. The reflectance properties of the SNP-coated polyester fabrics were measured using a DataColor SF650 spectrophotometer
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