Structural Coloration of Polyester Fabrics with High Colorfastness by Copolymer Photonic Crystals Containing Reactive Epoxy Groups

Structural color as a revolutionary coloration strategy has been proposed to replace the traditional dyeing and printing process. However, the poor colorfastness and easy crack formation of structural colors on textile fabrics restrict their practical application at present. In this study, poly (tert-butyl acrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (P(t-BA-co-GMA)) copolymers containing reactive epoxy groups with different mass ratios of tert-butyl acrylate (t-BA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) were successfully synthesized, which were used to create structural colors on black polyester fabrics. The results showed that P(t-BA-co-GMA) nanospheres could form crack-free structural colors on polyester fabrics, and the colors vary with the mass ratio of t-BA and GMA to obtain five different colors. The different particle sizes of the different P(t-BA-co-GMA) nanospheres with different refractive indexes and the arrangement of short-range ordered and long-range disordered in microstructures may be the reason of different angle-independent structural colors on polyester fabrics. The P(t-BA-co-GMA) nanosphere structural colors on polyester fabrics possess good abrasion and washing colorfastness. This research provides the experimental basis for the development of crack-free amorphous photonic crystal structural color on fabrics with high colorfastness to promote the practical application of structural color in textile coloration.