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Robust Scalable-Manufactured Smart Fabric Surfaces Based on Azobenzene-Containing Maleimide Copolymers for Rewritable
Congcong Zhai1, Guoxin Fang1, Wenqing Liu1
1Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fluorine Chemistry and Chemical Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, P. R. China.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|August 27, 2021
Summary
This study introduces a novel smart textile with reversible color-changing properties for rewritable media and sensors. The material utilizes acid-base reactions for rapid, stable color switching, enabling practical applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Chemistry
- Textile Engineering
Background:
- Developing cost-effective, stimulus-responsive chromogenic systems for rewritable media is challenging.
- Functionalized materials with reversible color switching are crucial for information storage and sensing applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a versatile dip-coating method for fabricating robust smart textiles with acid/base-driven color-changing capabilities.
- To demonstrate the potential of these smart textiles as rewritable media and visual sensors.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of smart textiles using a dip-coating approach with novel maleimide-based copolymers containing azobenzene derivatives.
- Utilizing acid-base stimulation (trifluoroacetic acid printing/triethylamine erasing) for reversible color switching (yellow/orange-red).
- Testing rewritable pattern stability, legible duration, and sensor capabilities for hydrogen fluoride gas detection.
Main Results:
- The smart textiles exhibit rapid color switching triggered by acid-base stimuli due to reversible protonation/deprotonation of maleimide moieties.
- Rewritable patterns were created and erased quickly (within 20 s) with excellent cycling stability and long legibility (>30 days).
- The material demonstrated effective visual sensing of hydrogen fluoride gas and possessed superhydrophobic, antifouling, and robust mechanical/chemical properties.
Conclusions:
- A cost-effective and scalable dip-coating method yields robust smart textiles with tunable chromotropic properties.
- These smart textiles offer a promising platform for high-performance rewritable media and sensitive visual gas sensors.
- The material's durability and environmental resistance suggest broad applicability in demanding conditions beyond the demonstrated uses.
