Structural colored textiles with high color visibility and stability for intelligent thermoregulating performance

Abstract

Intelligent textiles with structural color have attracted special attentions due to their great potentials in various advanced photonic applications. Thus, a mechanism for endowing structural colored textiles with high color visibility, stability, and intelligent thermoregulating performance is significant for the development of intelligent textiles. Herein, structural colored textiles with high color visibility and stability for intelligent thermoregulating performance were designed and prepared. Among them, amorphous photonic structures (APSs) assembled on textiles show high color visibility based on the background light shielding effect of polysulfide microspheres. Purple, green, orange, and red structural colors can be obtained by the sizes of polysulfide microspheres containing of 185, 198, 211, and 230 nm. Waterborne polyurethane phase change material (WPUPCM) is utilized as an adhesive to secure APSs, thereby enhancing the structural stability between APSs and textiles, including mainly the internal infiltration and surface encapsulation. The flexibility and stability of the obtained structural colored textiles can be verified by folding, rinsing, and kneading tests. More importantly, the phase change temperature of the prepared WPUPCM is 37.0 °C, and the enthalpy of melting phase change is 74.7 J/g. The textiles begin to regulate body temperature near the phase change temperature to adapt to the temperature change by absorbing and releasing energy. The thermoregulating performance of the textiles is evidenced by their ability to maintain temperature during heating and cooling tests. The combination of structural color and solid–solid phase change materials gives structural colored textiles thermoregulating performance, offering straightforward and convenient solutions for personal thermal management.