Structural Colored Fabric Based on Monodisperse Cu₂O Microspheres

Structural-colored fabrics have been attracting much attention due to their eco-friendliness, dyelessness, and anti-fading properties. Monodisperse microspheres of metal, metal oxide, and semiconductors are promising materials for creating photonic crystals and structural colors owing to their high refractive indices. Herein, Cu₂O microspheres were prepared by a two-step reduction method at room temperature; the size of Cu₂O microspheres was controlled by changing the molar ratio of citrate to Cu²⁺; and the size of Cu₂O microspheres was tuned from 275 nm to 190 nm. The Cu₂O microsphere dispersions were prepared with the monodispersity of Cu₂O microspheres. Furthermore, the effect of the concentration of Cu₂O microsphere and poly(butyl acrylate) on the structural color was also evaluated. Finally, the stability of the structural color against friction and bending was also tested. The results demonstrated that the different structural colors of fabrics were achieved by adjusting the size of the Cu₂O microsphere, and the color fastness of the structural color was improved by using poly(butyl acrylate) as the adhesive.