Bio-inspired fabrication of non-iridescent structural color coatings with excellent colorfastness for rapid and large-scale colorization of textile

Structural color in nature provides a new strategy for eco-friendly colorization. Biomimetic construction of amorphous photonic crystals (APCs) on the substrate surface can form a specific non-iridescent structural color, which can be widely used in textile, paint and other fields. However, the APCs structural color has the shortcomings of dim color and poor colorfastness, which restrict the industrial application. In this study, base on the structural design of APCs building blocks, a novel copolymer containing reactive epoxy groups of poly (styrene-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (P(St-co-GMA)) was synthesized, which was used for fabricating APCs structural color by rapid spray coating method. P(St-co-GMA) nanospheres with different particle diameters can be self-assembled into APCs showing different crack-free structural colors. This research reports for the first time that the polymer nanospheres with two different particle diameters were synthesized by one-pot polymerization to enhance the color brightness of structural color. P(St-co-GMA) nanospheres structural colorized fabrics showed excellent colorfastness, flexibility and air permeability. This research promotes the industrial application of structural color for the rapid larger-scale fabrication of APCs with excellent colorfastness on substrates through the synthesis of polymer nanospheres with reactive epoxy groups.