Construction of Patterned Cu₂O Photonic Crystals on Textile Substrates for Environmental Dyeing with Excellent...

Structural dyeing has attracted much attention due to its advantages such as environmental friendliness, vivid color, and resistance to fading. Herein, we propose an alternative strategy for fabric coloring based on Cu₂O microspheres. The strong Mie scattering effect of Cu₂O microspheres enables the creation of vibrant structural colors on fabric surfaces. These colors are visually striking and can potentially be adjusted by tuning the diameter of the microspheres. Importantly, the Cu₂O spheres were firmly bonded to the fabrics by using the industrial adhesive PDMS, and the Cu₂O structural color fabrics exhibited excellent color fastness to washing, rubbing, and bending. Cu₂O structural color fabrics also demonstrated excellent antimicrobial properties against bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The bactericidal rates of Cu₂O structural color textiles after washing for E. coli and S. aureus reached 92.40% and 94.53%, respectively. This innovative approach not only addresses environmental concerns associated with traditional dyeing processes but also enhances fabric properties by introducing vibrant structural colors and antimicrobial functionality.