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NBT-Pluronic F-127 Hydrogels Printed on Flat Textiles as UV Radiation Sensors
Elżbieta Sąsiadek1, Malwina Jaszczak1, Joanna Skwarek1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Informatics and Chemistry of Polymer Materials, Faculty of Material Technologies and Textile Design, Lodz University of Technology, Żeromskiego 116, 90-924 Lodz, Poland.
Abstract:
This work reports on the surface-modified woven fabrics for use as UV radiation sensors. The cotton and polyamide fabrics were printed with radiochromic hydrogels using a screen-printing method. The hydrogels used as a printing paste were composed of water, poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (Pluronic F-127) as a gel matrix and nitro blue tetrazolium chloride as a radiation-sensitive compound. The development of the hydrogels' colour occurs after exposure to UV radiation and its intensity increases with increasing absorbed dose. The features of the NBT-Pluronic F-127 radiochromic hydrogels and the fabrics printed with the hydrogels were examined using UV-Vis and reflectance spectrophotometry as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The effects of NBT concentration and UV radiation type (UVA, UVB, UVC) on dose responses of the hydrogels and printed fabrics were also examined. The results obtained reveal that the fabrics printed with NBT-Pluronic F-127 hydrogels can be potentially useful as UV radiation sensors.
